Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) Competitors

AJ Bell (LON:AJB) and Henderson Smaller Companies (LON:HSL) are both financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Is AJB or HSL a better dividend stock?

AJ Bell pays an annual dividend of GBX 12.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Henderson Smaller Companies pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. AJ Bell pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Henderson Smaller Companies pays out -0.4% 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, AJB or HSL?

AJ Bell has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Henderson Smaller Companies has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to AJB or HSL?

In the previous week, AJ Bell had 14 more articles in the media than Henderson Smaller Companies. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for AJ Bell and 1 mentions for Henderson Smaller Companies. AJ Bell's average media sentiment score of 0.24 beat Henderson Smaller Companies' score of 0.00 indicating that AJ Bell is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AJ Bell	2 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Henderson Smaller Companies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders & institutionals believe in AJB or HSL?

49.5% of AJ Bell shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.9% of Henderson Smaller Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.8% of AJ Bell shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Henderson Smaller Companies shares are owned 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.

Is AJB or HSL more profitable?

Henderson Smaller Companies has a net margin of 93.00% compared to AJ Bell's net margin of 33.14%. AJ Bell's return on equity of 42.30% beat Henderson Smaller Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AJ Bell	33.14%	42.30%	36.07%
Henderson Smaller Companies	93.00%	13.76%	7.47%

Do analysts recommend AJB or HSL?

AJ Bell currently has a consensus price target of GBX 542.86, indicating a potential downside of 0.03%. Given AJ Bell's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe AJ Bell is more favorable than Henderson Smaller Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AJ Bell	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Henderson Smaller Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, AJB or HSL?

Henderson Smaller Companies has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AJ Bell. Henderson Smaller Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AJ Bell, 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
AJ Bell	£291.42M	7.52	£81.11M	£21.59	25.15
Henderson Smaller Companies	-£44.23M	-12.55	£91.77M	-£61.24	-14.44

Summary

AJ Bell beats Henderson Smaller Companies on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.