CI Financial (CIX) Competitors

CI Financial (TSE:CIX) and West Fraser Timber (TSE:WFG) are both mid-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CIX or WFG?

CI Financial received 375 more outperform votes than West Fraser Timber when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.48% of users gave West Fraser Timber an outperform vote while only 57.96% of users gave CI Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CI Financial	Outperform Votes 448 57.96%	Underperform Votes 325 42.04%
West Fraser Timber	Outperform Votes 73 63.48%	Underperform Votes 42 36.52%

Is CIX or WFG a better dividend stock?

CI Financial pays an annual dividend of C$0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. West Fraser Timber pays an annual dividend of C$1.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. CI Financial pays out -166.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. West Fraser Timber pays out -103.4% 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. CI Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in CIX or WFG?

15.0% of CI Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.4% of West Fraser Timber shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.8% of CI Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 33.7% of West Fraser Timber shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CIX or WFG more profitable?

West Fraser Timber has a net margin of -1.53% compared to CI Financial's net margin of -1.94%. West Fraser Timber's return on equity of -1.33% beat CI Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CI Financial	-1.94%	-7.54%	4.87%
West Fraser Timber	-1.53%	-1.33%	2.18%

Do analysts recommend CIX or WFG?

CI Financial currently has a consensus target price of C$27.94, indicating a potential downside of 10.74%. West Fraser Timber has a consensus target price of C$142.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.11%. Given West Fraser Timber's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe West Fraser Timber is more favorable than CI Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CI Financial	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
West Fraser Timber	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50

Does the media prefer CIX or WFG?

In the previous week, West Fraser Timber had 9 more articles in the media than CI Financial. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for West Fraser Timber and 1 mentions for CI Financial. CI Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat West Fraser Timber's score of 0.33 indicating that CI Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CI Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
West Fraser Timber	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility and risk, CIX or WFG?

CI Financial has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Fraser Timber has a beta of 2.03, indicating that its stock price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, CIX or WFG?

West Fraser Timber has higher revenue and earnings than CI Financial. CI Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than West Fraser Timber, 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
CI Financial	C$3.57B	1.26	-C$69.09M	-C$0.48	-65.25
West Fraser Timber	C$4.36B	1.31	-C$66.55M	-C$1.67	-61.48

Summary

West Fraser Timber beats CI Financial on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.