Provident Financial (LON:PFG) and S&U (LON:SUS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Provident Financial and S&U's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
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Provident Financial | £459.60 million | 1.32 | N/A | GBX 14.40 | 16.65 |
S&U | £80.15 million | 3.56 | N/A | GBX 120.70 | 19.47 |
Provident Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than S&U, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Provident Financial pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. S&U pays an annual dividend of GBX 1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Provident Financial pays out 0.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. S&U pays out 0.9% 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.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Provident Financial and S&U, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Provident Financial | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.43 |
S&U | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Provident Financial presently has a consensus target price of GBX 262.33, indicating a potential upside of 9.40%. S&U has a consensus target price of GBX 3,300, indicating a potential upside of 40.43%. Given S&U's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe S&U is more favorable than Provident Financial.
Profitability
This table compares Provident Financial and S&U's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Provident Financial | N/A | N/A | N/A |
S&U | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Summary
S&U beats Provident Financial on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.