Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) Competitors

Spire Healthcare Group (LON:SPI) and Empiric Student Property (LON:ESP) are both small-cap electronic equipment companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and risk.

Does the media favor SPI or ESP?

In the previous week, Empiric Student Property had 7 more articles in the media than Spire Healthcare Group. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Empiric Student Property and 1 mentions for Spire Healthcare Group. Spire Healthcare Group's average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat Empiric Student Property's score of 0.43 indicating that Spire Healthcare Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Spire Healthcare Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Empiric Student Property	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is SPI or ESP a better dividend stock?

Spire Healthcare Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 3 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Empiric Student Property pays an annual dividend of GBX 4 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Spire Healthcare Group pays out 42.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Empiric Student Property pays out 44.9% 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.

Do analysts recommend SPI or ESP?

Spire Healthcare Group currently has a consensus target price of GBX 294.33, indicating a potential upside of 33.18%. Given Spire Healthcare Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Spire Healthcare Group is more favorable than Empiric Student Property.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spire Healthcare Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Empiric Student Property	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is SPI or ESP more profitable?

Empiric Student Property has a net margin of 65.69% compared to Spire Healthcare Group's net margin of 1.96%. Empiric Student Property's return on equity of 7.23% beat Spire Healthcare Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spire Healthcare Group	1.96%	3.82%	3.73%
Empiric Student Property	65.69%	7.23%	2.26%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in SPI or ESP?

50.4% of Spire Healthcare Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.4% of Empiric Student Property shares are held by institutional investors. 34.7% of Spire Healthcare Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Empiric Student Property shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, SPI or ESP?

Spire Healthcare Group has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Empiric Student Property has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, SPI or ESP?

Empiric Student Property has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Spire Healthcare Group. Empiric Student Property is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Spire Healthcare 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
Spire Healthcare Group	£1.44B	0.62	£28.15M	£7.03	31.45
Empiric Student Property	£89.58M	6.72	£58.84M	£8.90	10.21

Summary

Spire Healthcare Group and Empiric Student Property tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.