Schroder Japan Trust (SJG) Competitors

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) and Schroder Japan Trust (LON:SJG) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Which has more risk and volatility, ASL or SJG?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Schroder Japan Trust has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ASL or SJG?

Schroder Japan Trust received 5 more outperform votes than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 72.81% of users gave Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust an outperform vote while only 63.77% of users gave Schroder Japan Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Outperform Votes 83 72.81%	Underperform Votes 31 27.19%
Schroder Japan Trust	Outperform Votes 88 63.77%	Underperform Votes 50 36.23%

Is ASL or SJG more profitable?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 112.81% compared to Schroder Japan Trust's net margin of 99.53%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity of 18.22% beat Schroder Japan Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	112.81%	18.22%	11.67%
Schroder Japan Trust	99.53%	18.12%	7.69%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, ASL or SJG?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Schroder Japan Trust. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Schroder Japan 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
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	£226.05M	5.18	£255.01M	£304.31	4.61
Schroder Japan Trust	£60.80M	4.75	£60.51M	£50.99	4.83

Is ASL or SJG a better dividend stock?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 42 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Schroder Japan Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 5 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays out 13.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Schroder Japan Trust pays out 9.8% 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.

Does the media prefer ASL or SJG?

In the previous week, Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Schroder Japan Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Very Positive
Schroder Japan Trust	Neutral

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in ASL or SJG?

52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.0% of Schroder Japan Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.3% of Schroder Japan Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats Schroder Japan Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.