BlackRock Income and Growth (BRIG) Competitors

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies (LON:MTU) and BlackRock Income and Growth (LON:BRIG) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Which has better earnings and valuation, MTU or BRIG?

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BlackRock Income and Growth. Montanaro UK Smaller Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BlackRock Income and Growth, 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
Montanaro UK Smaller Companies	-£13.16M	-9.61	£26.33M	-£0.08	-1,170.93
BlackRock Income and Growth	£2.48M	16.58	£6.90M	£0.12	1,854.42

Which has more risk and volatility, MTU or BRIG?

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackRock Income and Growth has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in MTU or BRIG?

10.4% of Montanaro UK Smaller Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.7% of BlackRock Income and Growth shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Montanaro UK Smaller Companies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of BlackRock Income and Growth shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is MTU or BRIG more profitable?

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies has a net margin of 91.45% compared to BlackRock Income and Growth's net margin of 90.17%. BlackRock Income and Growth's return on equity of 15.61% beat Montanaro UK Smaller Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Montanaro UK Smaller Companies	91.45%	13.16%	5.77%
BlackRock Income and Growth	90.17%	15.61%	2.59%

Is MTU or BRIG a better dividend stock?

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. BlackRock Income and Growth pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Montanaro UK Smaller Companies pays out -64.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BlackRock Income and Growth pays out 65.9% 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. Montanaro UK Smaller Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor MTU or BRIG?

In the previous week, Montanaro UK Smaller Companies and Montanaro UK Smaller Companies both had 1 articles in the media. BlackRock Income and Growth's average media sentiment score of 1.63 beat Montanaro UK Smaller Companies' score of 1.16 indicating that BlackRock Income and Growth is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Montanaro UK Smaller Companies	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
BlackRock Income and Growth	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies and BlackRock Income and Growth tied by winning 7 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.