Analyzing Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION)

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Stifel Financial has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CION Investment has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.0% of Stifel Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.0% of CION Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Stifel Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of CION Investment shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Stifel Financial and CION Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stifel Financial	$5.53 billion	2.07	$683.78 million	$5.59	13.55
CION Investment	$240.82 million	1.46	-$20.63 million	$0.06	119.17

Stifel Financial has higher revenue and earnings than CION Investment. Stifel Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CION Investment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Stifel Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. CION Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.8%. Stifel Financial pays out 24.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CION Investment pays out 2,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stifel Financial has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years and CION Investment has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Stifel Financial and CION Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stifel Financial	16.11%	19.22%	2.36%
CION Investment	1.17%	11.95%	4.52%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Stifel Financial and CION Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stifel Financial	0	4	5	0	2.56
CION Investment	1	2	0	0	1.67

Stifel Financial currently has a consensus price target of $91.90, indicating a potential upside of 21.36%. CION Investment has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential downside of 9.09%. Given Stifel Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Stifel Financial is more favorable than CION Investment.

Summary

Stifel Financial beats CION Investment on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other. The company provides private client services, including securities transaction and financial planning services; institutional equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, and municipal finance services; investment banking services, such as mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, and private placements; and retail and commercial banking services comprising personal and commercial lending programs, as well as deposit accounts. It participates in and manages underwritings for corporate and public finance; and offers financial advisory and securities brokerage services. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies. The firm invests in growth capital, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, market/product expansion, refinancing and recapitalization. The fund also invests up to 30 percent of their assets opportunistically in other types of investments, including the securities of larger public companies and foreign securities. It also makes investments in the secondary loan market. The fund does not invest in start-up companies, turnaround situations, or companies with speculative business plans. The fund prefers to invest in high tech industries, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, business services, media, chemicals, plastic, rubber, telecommunication, consumer services, advertising, printing and publishing, consumer goods, durables, diversified financials, and other industries. It also invests in homebuilding, restaurants, beverage and tobacco bars, broadcasting, distributors, Non-durable good distribution, food beverage and tobacco, energy, oil gas and consumables fuels, insurance, aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, paper and forest product machinery, information technology, metals and mining, and real estate. It primarily seeks to invest in the United States. The fund seeks to invest between $5 million and $50 million in companies with an EBITDA between $25 million and $75 million with average targeted hold of $25 million. It also purchases minority interests in the form of common or preferred equity in the target companies, typically in conjunction with its debt investments or through a co-investment with a financial sponsor. The fund seeks to exit its investments through an initial public offering of common stock, a merger, a sale, or other recapitalization.