Contrasting Janus Henderson Group (NYSE:JHG) & Sprott (NYSE:SII)

Sprott (NYSE:SII) and Janus Henderson Group (NYSE:JHG) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Sprott and Janus Henderson Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sprott	23.62%	19.47%	14.82%
Janus Henderson Group	25.83%	14.70%	9.60%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.3% of Sprott shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Janus Henderson Group shares are held by institutional investors. 18.3% of Sprott shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.4% of Janus Henderson Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Sprott has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Janus Henderson Group has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Sprott pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Janus Henderson Group pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Sprott pays out 82.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Janus Henderson Group pays out 30.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sprott has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Janus Henderson Group has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Janus Henderson Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Sprott and Janus Henderson Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sprott	0	1	3	0	2.75
Janus Henderson Group	0	6	3	2	2.64

Sprott currently has a consensus target price of $132.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.48%. Janus Henderson Group has a consensus target price of $47.67, indicating a potential downside of 4.97%. Given Janus Henderson Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Janus Henderson Group is more favorable than Sprott.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sprott and Janus Henderson Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sprott	$285.08 million	13.05	$67.35 million	$1.95	73.96
Janus Henderson Group	$3.10 billion	2.50	$815.90 million	$5.26	9.54

Janus Henderson Group has higher revenue and earnings than Sprott. Janus Henderson Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sprott, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Janus Henderson Group beats Sprott on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sprott

Sprott Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides asset management, portfolio management, wealth management, fund management, and administrative and consulting services to its clients. It offers mutual funds, hedge funds, and offshore funds, along with managed accounts. Further, the firm also provides broker-dealer activities. Sprott Inc. was formed on February 13, 2008 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Janus Henderson Group

Janus Henderson Group plc is an asset management holding entity. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides services to institutional, retail clients, and high net worth clients. It manages separate client-focused equity and fixed income portfolios. The firm also manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients. It invests in public equity and fixed income markets, as well as invests in real estate and private equity. Janus Henderson Group plc was founded in 1934 and is based in London, United Kingdom with additional offices in Jersey, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia.