Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' (HANA) Competitors

Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' (LON:HANA) and Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Is HANA or ASL more profitable?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 112.81% compared to Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A''s net margin of 95.67%. Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A''s return on equity of 19.42% beat Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A'	95.67%	19.42%	13.97%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	112.81%	18.22%	11.67%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, HANA or ASL?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A'. Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' 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
Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A'	£89.28M	3.71	£85.41M	£69.61	3.88
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	£226.05M	5.72	£255.01M	£304.31	5.09

Do insiders & institutionals believe in HANA or ASL?

4.6% of Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.1% of Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, HANA or ASL?

Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to HANA or ASL?

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

Company	Overall Sentiment
Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A'	Neutral
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Very Positive

Is HANA or ASL a better dividend stock?

Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' pays an annual dividend of GBX 3 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' pays out 4.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays out 13.8% 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.

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats Hansa Investment Company Ltd 'A' on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.