Guardian Capital Group (GCG) Competitors

CI Financial (TSE:CIX) and Guardian Capital Group (TSE:GCG) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and risk.

Is CIX or GCG more profitable?

Guardian Capital Group has a net margin of 37.41% compared to CI Financial's net margin of -1.94%. Guardian Capital Group's return on equity of 8.33% beat CI Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CI Financial	-1.94%	-7.54%	4.87%
Guardian Capital Group	37.41%	8.33%	2.48%

Does the media prefer CIX or GCG?

In the previous week, Guardian Capital Group had 2 more articles in the media than CI Financial. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Guardian Capital Group and 0 mentions for CI Financial. Guardian Capital Group's average media sentiment score of 0.47 beat CI Financial's score of 0.00 indicating that Guardian Capital Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
CI Financial	Neutral
Guardian Capital Group	Neutral

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CIX or GCG?

Guardian Capital Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than CI Financial. CI Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Guardian Capital Group, 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	1.29	-C$69.09M	-C$0.48	-66.69
Guardian Capital Group	C$397.58M	4.13	C$108.81M	C$6.18	10.83

Do insiders & institutionals believe in CIX or GCG?

15.0% of CI Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.3% of Guardian Capital Group shares are held by institutional investors. 15.8% of CI Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 77.1% of Guardian Capital Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, CIX or GCG?

CI Financial has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Guardian Capital Group has a beta of 1.09408, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer CIX or GCG?

CI Financial presently has a consensus price target of C$29.36, indicating a potential downside of 8.23%. Guardian Capital Group has a consensus price target of C$45.00, indicating a potential downside of 32.74%. Given CI Financial's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe CI Financial is more favorable than Guardian Capital Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CI Financial	2 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75
Guardian Capital Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is CIX or GCG a better dividend stock?

CI Financial pays an annual dividend of C$0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Guardian Capital Group pays an annual dividend of C$1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. CI Financial pays out -166.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Guardian Capital Group pays out 24.3% 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 has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CI Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Guardian Capital Group beats CI Financial on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.