The European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) Competitors

JPMorgan American (LON:JAM) and The European Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ESCT) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Is JAM or ESCT more profitable?

JPMorgan American has a net margin of 97.58% compared to The European Smaller Companies Trust's net margin of 87.06%. JPMorgan American's return on equity of 24.87% beat The European Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JPMorgan American	97.58%	24.87%	15.33%
The European Smaller Companies Trust	87.06%	10.91%	6.62%

Which has better valuation & earnings, JAM or ESCT?

JPMorgan American has higher revenue and earnings than The European Smaller Companies Trust. The European Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than JPMorgan American, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JPMorgan American	£84.18M	22.48	£420.73M	£0.44	2,448.52
The European Smaller Companies Trust	-£5.61M	-86.16	£83.79M	-£0.02	-9,883.72

Is JAM or ESCT a better dividend stock?

JPMorgan American pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. The European Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. JPMorgan American pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The European Smaller Companies Trust pays out -223.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. The European Smaller Companies Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of JAM or ESCT?

13.6% of JPMorgan American shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of JPMorgan American shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, JAM or ESCT?

JPMorgan American has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The European Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to JAM or ESCT?

In the previous week, JPMorgan American had 3 more articles in the media than The European Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for JPMorgan American and 0 mentions for The European Smaller Companies Trust. JPMorgan American's average media sentiment score of 0.05 beat The European Smaller Companies Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that JPMorgan American is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
JPMorgan American	Neutral
The European Smaller Companies Trust	Neutral

Summary

JPMorgan American beats The European Smaller Companies Trust on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.