The European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) Competitors

RIT Capital Partners (LON:RCP) and The European Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ESCT) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Which has more risk and volatility, RCP or ESCT?

RIT Capital Partners has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The European Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is RCP or ESCT a better dividend stock?

RIT Capital Partners pays an annual dividend of GBX 39 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. The European Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 5 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. RIT Capital Partners pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The European Smaller Companies Trust pays out 23.6% 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 European Smaller Companies Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is RCP or ESCT more profitable?

RIT Capital Partners has a net margin of 162.20% compared to The European Smaller Companies Trust's net margin of 87.06%. The European Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity of 10.91% beat RIT Capital Partners' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RIT Capital Partners	162.20%	4.70%	4.22%
The European Smaller Companies Trust	87.06%	10.91%	6.62%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of RCP or ESCT?

22.9% of RIT Capital Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.1% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 41.4% of RIT Capital Partners shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in RCP or ESCT?

RIT Capital Partners received 152 more outperform votes than The European Smaller Companies Trust when rated by MarketBeat users.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
RIT Capital Partners	Outperform Votes 152 67.26%	Underperform Votes 74 32.74%
The European Smaller Companies Trust	N/A	N/A

Does the media refer more to RCP or ESCT?

In the previous week, RIT Capital Partners had 3 more articles in the media than The European Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for RIT Capital Partners and 0 mentions for The European Smaller Companies Trust. RIT Capital Partners' average media sentiment score of 0.69 beat The European Smaller Companies Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that RIT Capital Partners is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
RIT Capital Partners	Positive
The European Smaller Companies Trust	Neutral

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, RCP or ESCT?

RIT Capital Partners has higher revenue and earnings than The European Smaller Companies Trust. The European Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RIT Capital Partners, 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
RIT Capital Partners	£103.46M	25.33	£167.81M	£115.68	15.72
The European Smaller Companies Trust	£96.24M	7.25	£83.79M	£21.21	8.34

Summary

RIT Capital Partners beats The European Smaller Companies Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.