Schroder Japan Trust (SJG) Competitors

Schroder Japan Trust (LON:SJG) and Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Which has more volatility & risk, SJG or ASL?

Schroder Japan Trust has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in SJG or ASL?

74.0% of Schroder Japan Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Schroder Japan Trust 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 is poised for long-term growth.

Is SJG or ASL a better dividend stock?

Schroder Japan Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 5 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Schroder Japan Trust pays out 9.8% 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.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, SJG or ASL?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Schroder Japan Trust. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Schroder Japan 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
Schroder Japan Trust	£60.80M	5.44	£60.51M	£50.99	5.53
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	£226.05M	5.63	£255.01M	£304.31	5.01

Does the media prefer SJG or ASL?

In the previous week, Schroder Japan Trust had 1 more articles in the media than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for Schroder Japan Trust and 0 mentions for Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.66 beat Schroder Japan Trust's score of 1.62 indicating that Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Schroder Japan Trust	Very Positive
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Very Positive

Is SJG or ASL more profitable?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 112.81% compared to Schroder Japan Trust's net margin of 99.53%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity of 18.22% beat Schroder Japan Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Schroder Japan Trust	99.53%	18.12%	7.69%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	112.81%	18.22%	11.67%

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats Schroder Japan Trust on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.