Ferguson (FERG) Competitors

The Mercantile Investment Trust (LON:MRC) and Ferguson (LON:FERG) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, risk, profitability, media sentiment, valuation and dividends.

Is MRC or FERG a better dividend stock?

The Mercantile Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 8 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ferguson pays an annual dividend of GBX 246 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. The Mercantile Investment Trust pays out 8,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ferguson pays out 3,519.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Which has more risk and volatility, MRC or FERG?

The Mercantile Investment Trust has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ferguson has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, MRC or FERG?

Ferguson has higher revenue and earnings than The Mercantile Investment Trust. Ferguson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Mercantile Investment Trust, 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
The Mercantile Investment Trust	£97.69M	19.43	£75.21M	£0.10	2,450.00
Ferguson	£29.53B	1.04	£1.87B	£6.99	2,188.84

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in MRC or FERG?

48.8% of The Mercantile Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Ferguson shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of The Mercantile Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Ferguson shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is MRC or FERG more profitable?

The Mercantile Investment Trust has a net margin of 76.99% compared to Ferguson's net margin of 6.33%. Ferguson's return on equity of 36.47% beat The Mercantile Investment Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Mercantile Investment Trust	76.99%	4.03%	2.53%
Ferguson	6.33%	36.47%	10.30%

Does the media refer more to MRC or FERG?

In the previous week, Ferguson had 18 more articles in the media than The Mercantile Investment Trust. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Ferguson and 3 mentions for The Mercantile Investment Trust. The Mercantile Investment Trust's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat Ferguson's score of -0.08 indicating that The Mercantile Investment Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
The Mercantile Investment Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ferguson	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate MRC or FERG?

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Mercantile Investment Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A
Ferguson	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MRC or FERG?

Ferguson received 259 more outperform votes than The Mercantile Investment Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.53% of users gave Ferguson an outperform vote while only 57.04% of users gave The Mercantile Investment Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
The Mercantile Investment Trust	Outperform Votes 77 57.04%	Underperform Votes 58 42.96%
Ferguson	Outperform Votes 336 66.53%	Underperform Votes 169 33.47%

Summary

Ferguson beats The Mercantile Investment Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.