The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
68.1% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.8% of Piper Jaffray Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Piper Jaffray Companies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
The Goldman Sachs Group pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Piper Jaffray Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. The Goldman Sachs Group pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Piper Jaffray Companies pays out 24.5% 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. The Goldman Sachs Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Volatility and Risk
The Goldman Sachs Group has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piper Jaffray Companies has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares The Goldman Sachs Group and Piper Jaffray Companies' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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The Goldman Sachs Group | 16.65% | 11.23% | 0.83% |
Piper Jaffray Companies | 10.99% | 12.26% | 7.10% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares The Goldman Sachs Group and Piper Jaffray Companies' revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
The Goldman Sachs Group | $53.92 billion | 2.12 | $8.47 billion | $21.03 | 15.73 |
Piper Jaffray Companies | $800.99 million | 1.45 | $57.04 million | $6.13 | 13.23 |
The Goldman Sachs Group has higher revenue and earnings than Piper Jaffray Companies. Piper Jaffray Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Goldman Sachs Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for The Goldman Sachs Group and Piper Jaffray Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
The Goldman Sachs Group | 1 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 2.67 |
Piper Jaffray Companies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus target price of $355.3333, suggesting a potential upside of 7.40%. Given The Goldman Sachs Group's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe The Goldman Sachs Group is more favorable than Piper Jaffray Companies.
Summary
The Goldman Sachs Group beats Piper Jaffray Companies on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.