Income Financial Trust (INC.UN) Competitors

Income Financial Trust (TSE:INC.UN) and Guardian Capital Group (TSE:GCG) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, community ranking, risk and media sentiment.

Does the media prefer INC.UN or GCG?

In the previous week, Income Financial Trust and Income Financial Trust both had 1 articles in the media. Income Financial Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.85 beat Guardian Capital Group's score of 0.51 indicating that Income Financial Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Income Financial 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
Guardian Capital Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor INC.UN or GCG?

Guardian Capital Group received 91 more outperform votes than Income Financial Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 68.97% of users gave Income Financial Trust an outperform vote while only 59.58% of users gave Guardian Capital Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Income Financial Trust	Outperform Votes 80 68.97%	Underperform Votes 36 31.03%
Guardian Capital Group	Outperform Votes 171 59.58%	Underperform Votes 116 40.42%

Which has better valuation and earnings, INC.UN or GCG?

Guardian Capital Group has higher revenue and earnings than Income Financial Trust. Income Financial Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Guardian Capital 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
Income Financial Trust	C$5.11M	5.62	C$4.69M	C$1.41	6.08
Guardian Capital Group	C$251.52M	0.45	C$62.21M	C$2.43	17.08

Which has more volatility and risk, INC.UN or GCG?

Income Financial Trust has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its share price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Guardian Capital Group has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is INC.UN or GCG a better dividend stock?

Income Financial Trust pays an annual dividend of C$0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.1%. Guardian Capital Group pays an annual dividend of C$1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Income Financial Trust pays out 55.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Guardian Capital Group pays out 60.9% 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. Income Financial Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is INC.UN or GCG more profitable?

Income Financial Trust has a net margin of 91.79% compared to Guardian Capital Group's net margin of 24.73%. Income Financial Trust's return on equity of 19.88% beat Guardian Capital Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Income Financial Trust	91.79%	19.88%	12.30%
Guardian Capital Group	24.73%	5.26%	2.48%

Do analysts prefer INC.UN or GCG?

Guardian Capital Group has a consensus price target of C$51.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.89%. Given Guardian Capital Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Guardian Capital Group is more favorable than Income Financial Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Income Financial Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Guardian Capital Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in INC.UN or GCG?

26.3% of Guardian Capital Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 77.1% of Guardian Capital Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Guardian Capital Group beats Income Financial Trust on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.