AllianceBernstein (AB) Competitors

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) and AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Do analysts prefer WPC or AB?

W.P. Carey presently has a consensus target price of $67.22, indicating a potential downside of 1.12%. AllianceBernstein has a consensus target price of $40.67, indicating a potential upside of 5.63%. Given AllianceBernstein's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AllianceBernstein is more favorable than W.P. Carey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.P. Carey	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.18
AllianceBernstein	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has better valuation and earnings, WPC or AB?

W.P. Carey has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AllianceBernstein. AllianceBernstein is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.P. Carey, 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
W.P. Carey	$1.58B	9.40	$460.84M	$1.52	44.73
AllianceBernstein	$4.48B	0.95	$423.37M	$3.37	11.42

Is WPC or AB more profitable?

W.P. Carey has a net margin of 20.42% compared to AllianceBernstein's net margin of 8.35%. AllianceBernstein's return on equity of 18.63% beat W.P. Carey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.P. Carey	20.42%	4.00%	1.91%
AllianceBernstein	8.35%	18.63%	18.62%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of WPC or AB?

73.7% of W.P. Carey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.3% of AllianceBernstein shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of W.P. Carey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of AllianceBernstein shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WPC or AB a better dividend stock?

W.P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. AllianceBernstein pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. W.P. Carey pays out 239.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AllianceBernstein pays out 90.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. W.P. Carey has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. AllianceBernstein is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor WPC or AB?

In the previous week, W.P. Carey and W.P. Carey both had 11 articles in the media. W.P. Carey's average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat AllianceBernstein's score of 0.65 indicating that W.P. Carey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
W.P. Carey	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AllianceBernstein	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, WPC or AB?

W.P. Carey has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AllianceBernstein has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AllianceBernstein beats W.P. Carey on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.