Galliford Try (GFRD) Competitors

Hill & Smith (LON:HILS) and Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in HILS or GFRD?

78.9% of Hill & Smith shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.1% of Galliford Try shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Hill & Smith shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of Galliford Try shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend HILS or GFRD?

Hill & Smith presently has a consensus target price of GBX 2,500, indicating a potential upside of 37.36%. Galliford Try has a consensus target price of GBX 510, indicating a potential upside of 15.65%. Given Hill & Smith's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Hill & Smith is more favorable than Galliford Try.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hill & Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Galliford Try	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is HILS or GFRD more profitable?

Hill & Smith has a net margin of 9.23% compared to Galliford Try's net margin of 2.04%. Galliford Try's return on equity of 32.22% beat Hill & Smith's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hill & Smith	9.23%	17.39%	10.01%
Galliford Try	2.04%	32.22%	2.22%

Which has more volatility and risk, HILS or GFRD?

Hill & Smith has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Galliford Try has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HILS or GFRD a better dividend stock?

Hill & Smith pays an annual dividend of GBX 45 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Galliford Try pays an annual dividend of GBX 16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Hill & Smith pays out 47.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Galliford Try pays out 46.4% 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. Galliford Try is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to HILS or GFRD?

In the previous week, Galliford Try had 3 more articles in the media than Hill & Smith. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Galliford Try and 2 mentions for Hill & Smith. Galliford Try's average media sentiment score of 0.34 beat Hill & Smith's score of 0.30 indicating that Galliford Try is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hill & Smith	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Galliford Try	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, HILS or GFRD?

Hill & Smith has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Galliford Try. Galliford Try is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hill & Smith, 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
Hill & Smith	£834.58M	1.76	£77.07M	£95.13	19.13
Galliford Try	£1.69B	0.26	£34.53M	£34.46	12.80

Summary

Hill & Smith beats Galliford Try on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.