The Merchants Trust (MRCH) Competitors

The Merchants Trust (LON:MRCH) and Bridgepoint Group (LON:BPT) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, community ranking, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in MRCH or BPT?

6.1% of The Merchants Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.4% of Bridgepoint Group shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of The Merchants Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Bridgepoint Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MRCH or BPT a better dividend stock?

The Merchants Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Bridgepoint Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 9 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. The Merchants Trust pays out 3,972.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bridgepoint Group pays out 11,250.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. The Merchants Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MRCH or BPT?

The Merchants Trust received 70 more outperform votes than Bridgepoint Group when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 78.57% of users gave Bridgepoint Group an outperform vote while only 55.48% of users gave The Merchants Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
The Merchants Trust	Outperform Votes 81 55.48%	Underperform Votes 65 44.52%
Bridgepoint Group	Outperform Votes 11 78.57%	Underperform Votes 3 21.43%

Is MRCH or BPT more profitable?

The Merchants Trust has a net margin of 90.97% compared to Bridgepoint Group's net margin of 19.18%. The Merchants Trust's return on equity of 12.88% beat Bridgepoint Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Merchants Trust	90.97%	12.88%	7.70%
Bridgepoint Group	19.18%	8.85%	3.47%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, MRCH or BPT?

The Merchants Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bridgepoint Group. The Merchants Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bridgepoint Group, 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
The Merchants Trust	£119.61M	6.89	£108.81M	£0.73	760.27
Bridgepoint Group	£342.10M	8.55	£65.60M	£0.08	4,445.00

Does the media favor MRCH or BPT?

In the previous week, The Merchants Trust and The Merchants Trust both had 1 articles in the media. The Merchants Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Bridgepoint Group's score of 0.00 indicating that The Merchants Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
The Merchants Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Bridgepoint Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk & volatility, MRCH or BPT?

The Merchants Trust has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bridgepoint Group has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate MRCH or BPT?

Bridgepoint Group has a consensus target price of GBX 334, suggesting a potential downside of 6.07%. Given Bridgepoint Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bridgepoint Group is more favorable than The Merchants Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Merchants Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Bridgepoint Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Bridgepoint Group beats The Merchants Trust on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.