The Goldman Sachs Group (GS) Competitors

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, community ranking, dividends, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Is MS or GS a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley pays an annual dividend of $3.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. The Goldman Sachs Group pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley pays out 46.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Goldman Sachs Group pays out 29.6% 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. Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and The Goldman Sachs Group has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Do analysts rate MS or GS?

Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus target price of $129.20, indicating a potential upside of 18.58%. The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus target price of $586.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.34%. Given Morgan Stanley's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley is more favorable than The Goldman Sachs Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley	0 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
The Goldman Sachs Group	0 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35

Is MS or GS more profitable?

Morgan Stanley has a net margin of 12.48% compared to The Goldman Sachs Group's net margin of 11.32%. Morgan Stanley's return on equity of 14.39% beat The Goldman Sachs Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley	12.48%	14.39%	1.09%
The Goldman Sachs Group	11.32%	13.30%	0.84%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MS or GS?

The Goldman Sachs Group received 86 more outperform votes than Morgan Stanley when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.66% of users gave The Goldman Sachs Group an outperform vote while only 58.89% of users gave Morgan Stanley an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Morgan Stanley	Outperform Votes 1325 58.89%	Underperform Votes 925 41.11%
The Goldman Sachs Group	Outperform Votes 1411 59.66%	Underperform Votes 954 40.34%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MS or GS?

84.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.2% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MS or GS?

The Goldman Sachs Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Morgan Stanley. The Goldman Sachs Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morgan Stanley, 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
Morgan Stanley	$57.62B	3.05	$13.39B	$7.94	13.72
The Goldman Sachs Group	$53.51B	2.94	$14.28B	$40.55	12.42

Does the media prefer MS or GS?

In the previous week, The Goldman Sachs Group had 2 more articles in the media than Morgan Stanley. MarketBeat recorded 179 mentions for The Goldman Sachs Group and 177 mentions for Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley's average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat The Goldman Sachs Group's score of 0.38 indicating that Morgan Stanley is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morgan Stanley	55 Very Positive mention(s)	27 Positive mention(s)	53 Neutral mention(s)	28 Negative mention(s)	7 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Goldman Sachs Group	54 Very Positive mention(s)	32 Positive mention(s)	44 Neutral mention(s)	35 Negative mention(s)	10 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk & volatility, MS or GS?

Morgan Stanley has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Goldman Sachs Group has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

The Goldman Sachs Group beats Morgan Stanley on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.