Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust (BGEU) Competitors

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) and Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust (LON:BGEU) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, community ranking, media sentiment and dividends.

Which has more volatility & risk, ASL or BGEU?

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, Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, ASL or BGEU?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Baillie Gifford European Growth 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	£274.39M	4.41	£257.22M	£3.05	472.01
Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust	£27.20M	11.04	£25.14M	£0.07	1,214.29

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ASL or BGEU?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust received 83 more outperform votes than Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust when rated by MarketBeat users.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Outperform Votes 83 72.81%	Underperform Votes 31 27.19%
Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust	N/A	N/A

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ASL or BGEU?

52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.3% of Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is ASL or BGEU more profitable?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 93.74% compared to Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust's net margin of 92.44%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity of 19.45% beat Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	93.74%	19.45%	11.67%
Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust	92.44%	6.44%	3.49%

Does the media refer more to ASL or BGEU?

In the previous week, Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust had 1 more articles in the media than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust and 0 mentions for Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.68 beat Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Neutral
Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust	Very Positive

Is ASL or BGEU a better dividend stock?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays out 1,377.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust pays out 1,428.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.