SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) vs. U.S. Global Investors (NASDAQ:GROW) Critical Review

U.S. Global Investors (NASDAQ:GROW) and SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

U.S. Global Investors pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. SEI Investments pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. U.S. Global Investors pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SEI Investments pays out 18.3% 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. SEI Investments has increased its dividend for 34 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

U.S. Global Investors has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEI Investments has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for U.S. Global Investors and SEI Investments, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Global Investors	0	0	1	0	3.00
SEI Investments	0	1	6	0	2.86

SEI Investments has a consensus price target of $122.60, suggesting a potential upside of 12.35%. Given SEI Investments’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SEI Investments is more favorable than U.S. Global Investors.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

23.6% of U.S. Global Investors shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.6% of SEI Investments shares are held by institutional investors. 19.2% of U.S. Global Investors shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of SEI Investments shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares U.S. Global Investors and SEI Investments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Global Investors	33.29%	6.92%	6.51%
SEI Investments	28.85%	29.16%	22.68%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares U.S. Global Investors and SEI Investments”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U.S. Global Investors	$8.45 million	4.74	-$330,000.00	$0.26	12.42
SEI Investments	$2.45 billion	5.34	$715.30 million	$5.67	19.25

SEI Investments has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Global Investors. U.S. Global Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SEI Investments, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SEI Investments beats U.S. Global Investors on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U.S. Global Investors

U.S. Global Investors, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. It primarily provides its services to investment companies. The firm is a large advisory firm, an investment adviser to an investment company which provides portfolio management for investment companies. The firm manages and launches equity/balanced funds, fixed income funds and other funds. It also manages hedge funds. The firm primarily invests in no-load mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). U.S. Global Investors, Inc. is based in San Antonio, Texas.

About SEI Investments

SEI Investments Company is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides wealth management, retirement and investment solutions, asset management, asset administration, investment processing outsourcing solutions, financial services, and investment advisory services to its clients. It provides its services to private banks, independent financial advisers, institutional investors, investment managers, investment advisors, wealth management organizations, corporations, retirement scheme sponsors, not-for-profit organizations, hedge fund managers, registered investment advisers, independent broker-dealers, financial planners, life insurance agents, defined-benefit schemes, defined-contribution schemes, endowments, foundations, and board-designated fund, through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm manages separate client-focused portfolios. It also launches and manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds, through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm invests in public equity and fixed income markets. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on top-down and bottom-up analysis to make its investments, through its subsidiaries. SEI Investments Company was founded in 1968 and is based in Oaks, Pennsylvania.