abrdn Asia Focus (AAS) Competitors

The Mercantile Investment Trust (LON:MRC) and abrdn Asia Focus (LON:AAS) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, MRC or AAS?

The Mercantile Investment Trust has higher revenue and earnings than abrdn Asia Focus. The Mercantile Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than abrdn Asia Focus, 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
The Mercantile Investment Trust	£415.73M	4.06	£393.55M	£53.19	4.27
abrdn Asia Focus	£55.61M	7.83	£36.71M	£24.14	11.93

Does the media prefer MRC or AAS?

In the previous week, abrdn Asia Focus had 2 more articles in the media than The Mercantile Investment Trust. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for abrdn Asia Focus and 0 mentions for The Mercantile Investment Trust. abrdn Asia Focus' average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat The Mercantile Investment Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that abrdn Asia Focus is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
The Mercantile Investment Trust	Neutral
abrdn Asia Focus	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, MRC or AAS?

The Mercantile Investment Trust has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, abrdn Asia Focus has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in MRC or AAS?

48.8% of The Mercantile Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.0% of abrdn Asia Focus shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of The Mercantile Investment Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of abrdn Asia Focus shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MRC or AAS?

abrdn Asia Focus received 18 more outperform votes than The Mercantile Investment Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.84% of users gave abrdn Asia Focus an outperform vote while only 57.04% of users gave The Mercantile Investment Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
The Mercantile Investment Trust	Outperform Votes 77 57.04%	Underperform Votes 58 42.96%
abrdn Asia Focus	Outperform Votes 95 68.84%	Underperform Votes 43 31.16%

Is MRC or AAS a better dividend stock?

The Mercantile Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 8 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. abrdn Asia Focus pays an annual dividend of GBX 6 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Mercantile Investment Trust pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. abrdn Asia Focus pays out 24.9% 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. The Mercantile Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is MRC or AAS more profitable?

The Mercantile Investment Trust has a net margin of 94.67% compared to abrdn Asia Focus' net margin of 66.01%. The Mercantile Investment Trust's return on equity of 20.56% beat abrdn Asia Focus' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Mercantile Investment Trust	94.67%	20.56%	2.53%
abrdn Asia Focus	66.01%	7.71%	2.79%

Summary

abrdn Asia Focus beats The Mercantile Investment Trust on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.