Quilter (QLT) Competitors

St. James's Place (LON:STJ) and Quilter (LON:QLT) are both mid-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Does the media favor STJ or QLT?

In the previous week, St. James's Place had 6 more articles in the media than Quilter. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for St. James's Place and 4 mentions for Quilter. Quilter's average media sentiment score of 0.50 beat St. James' Place's score of 0.38 indicating that Quilter is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
St. James's Place	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Quilter	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is STJ or QLT more profitable?

Quilter has a net margin of 0.78% compared to St. James' Place's net margin of -0.02%. Quilter's return on equity of 3.33% beat St. James' Place's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
St. James's Place	-0.02%	-0.63%	0.22%
Quilter	0.78%	3.33%	0.21%

Which has more risk and volatility, STJ or QLT?

St. James's Place has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quilter has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend STJ or QLT?

St. James's Place presently has a consensus target price of GBX 1,408.75, suggesting a potential upside of 8.53%. Quilter has a consensus target price of GBX 160.75, suggesting a potential downside of 3.16%. Given St. James' Place's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe St. James's Place is more favorable than Quilter.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
St. James's Place	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Quilter	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of STJ or QLT?

79.6% of St. James's Place shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.1% of Quilter shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of St. James's Place shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Quilter shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, STJ or QLT?

Quilter has lower revenue, but higher earnings than St. James's Place. St. James's Place is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quilter, 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
St. James's Place	£26.27B	0.27	-£6.46M	-£1.19	-1,087.91
Quilter	£6.38B	0.35	£49.61M	£3.72	44.63

Is STJ or QLT a better dividend stock?

St. James's Place pays an annual dividend of GBX 14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Quilter pays an annual dividend of GBX 5 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. St. James's Place pays out -1,173.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Quilter pays out 134.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

St. James's Place and Quilter tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.