City of London (CTY) Competitors

City of London (LON:CTY) and Diploma (LON:DPLM) are both mid-cap personal services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, CTY or DPLM?

City of London has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Diploma has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer CTY or DPLM?

In the previous week, City of London had 7 more articles in the media than Diploma. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for City of London and 2 mentions for Diploma. City of London's average media sentiment score of 0.48 beat Diploma's score of 0.37 indicating that City of London is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
City of London	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Diploma	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is CTY or DPLM more profitable?

City of London has a net margin of 95.77% compared to Diploma's net margin of 9.25%. City of London's return on equity of 14.45% beat Diploma's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
City of London	95.77%	14.45%	4.00%
Diploma	9.25%	13.18%	8.32%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in CTY or DPLM?

8.6% of City of London shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Diploma shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of City of London shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Diploma shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate CTY or DPLM?

Diploma has a consensus price target of GBX 5,097.50, indicating a potential downside of 6.12%. Given Diploma's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Diploma is more favorable than City of London.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
City of London	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Diploma	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has better valuation & earnings, CTY or DPLM?

City of London has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Diploma. City of London is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Diploma, 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
City of London	£307.08M	8.21	£294.08M	£59.40	8.59
Diploma	£1.25B	5.80	£115.40M	£87.00	62.42

Is CTY or DPLM a better dividend stock?

City of London pays an annual dividend of GBX 21 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Diploma pays an annual dividend of GBX 57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. City of London pays out 35.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Diploma pays out 65.5% 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. City of London is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

City of London and Diploma tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.