Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) Competitors

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) and Polar Capital Technology Trust (LON:PCT) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, community ranking, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership and risk.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ASL or PCT?

52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.2% of Polar Capital Technology Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Polar Capital Technology Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to ASL or PCT?

In the previous week, Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust had 1 more articles in the media than Polar Capital Technology Trust. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust and 0 mentions for Polar Capital Technology Trust. Polar Capital Technology Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.26 beat Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's score of 1.16 indicating that Polar Capital Technology Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Positive
Polar Capital Technology Trust	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, ASL or PCT?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Polar Capital Technology Trust has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ASL or PCT?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust and Polar Capital Technology Trust both received 83 outperform votes by MarketBeat users. However, 72.81% of users gave Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust an outperform vote while only 64.34% of users gave Polar Capital Technology Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Outperform Votes 83 72.81%	Underperform Votes 31 27.19%
Polar Capital Technology Trust	Outperform Votes 83 64.34%	Underperform Votes 46 35.66%

Which has better valuation and earnings, ASL or PCT?

Polar Capital Technology Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. Polar Capital Technology Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust, 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
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	£226.05M	4.82	£255.01M	£304.31	4.29
Polar Capital Technology Trust	£1.24B	2.63	£1.20B	£101.86	2.73

Is ASL or PCT more profitable?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 112.81% compared to Polar Capital Technology Trust's net margin of 96.56%. Polar Capital Technology Trust's return on equity of 30.54% beat Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	112.81%	18.22%	11.67%
Polar Capital Technology Trust	96.56%	30.54%	20.70%

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats Polar Capital Technology Trust on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.