The Merchants Trust (MRCH) Competitors

Petershill Partners (LON:PHLL) and The Merchants Trust (LON:MRCH) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.

Is PHLL or MRCH a better dividend stock?

Petershill Partners pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. The Merchants Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Petershill Partners pays out 19.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Merchants Trust pays out 41.1% 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. Petershill Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, PHLL or MRCH?

Petershill Partners has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Merchants Trust has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend PHLL or MRCH?

Petershill Partners currently has a consensus price target of GBX 296.67, indicating a potential upside of 25.18%. Given Petershill Partners' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Petershill Partners is more favorable than The Merchants Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Petershill Partners	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
The Merchants Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in PHLL or MRCH?

11.7% of Petershill Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.9% of The Merchants Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Petershill Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of The Merchants Trust 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.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, PHLL or MRCH?

Petershill Partners has higher revenue and earnings than The Merchants Trust. Petershill Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Merchants 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
Petershill Partners	£1.01B	2.53	£420.55M	£0.76	312.62
The Merchants Trust	£107.14M	7.54	£109.11M	£0.70	774.16

Does the media favor PHLL or MRCH?

In the previous week, Petershill Partners and Petershill Partners both had 1 articles in the media. The Merchants Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat Petershill Partners' score of 0.59 indicating that The Merchants Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Petershill Partners	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Merchants Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is PHLL or MRCH more profitable?

The Merchants Trust has a net margin of 90.97% compared to Petershill Partners' net margin of 59.57%. The Merchants Trust's return on equity of 13.03% beat Petershill Partners' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Petershill Partners	59.57%	7.17%	5.95%
The Merchants Trust	90.97%	13.03%	7.70%

Summary

Petershill Partners beats The Merchants Trust on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.