Contrasting Sprott (NYSE:SII) & Noah (NYSE:NOAH)

Sprott (NYSE:SII) and Noah (NYSE:NOAH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sprott and Noah”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sprott	$178.65 million	12.15	$49.29 million	$1.93	43.60
Noah	$2.58 billion	0.29	$65.14 million	$1.12	9.94

Noah has higher revenue and earnings than Sprott. Noah is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sprott, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.3% of Sprott shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.7% of Noah shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.3% of Sprott shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 47.2% of Noah shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Sprott has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Noah has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Sprott pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Noah pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Sprott pays out 62.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Noah pays out 49.1% 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. Sprott has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Noah is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Sprott and Noah’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sprott	23.26%	15.16%	12.43%
Noah	22.17%	6.44%	5.44%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sprott and Noah, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sprott	0	1	3	0	2.75
Noah	1	2	1	0	2.00

Noah has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.77%. Given Noah’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Noah is more favorable than Sprott.

Summary

Sprott beats Noah on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sprott

Sprott Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides asset management, portfolio management, wealth management, fund management, and administrative and consulting services to its clients. It offers mutual funds, hedge funds, and offshore funds, along with managed accounts. Further, the firm also provides broker-dealer activities. Sprott Inc. was formed on February 13, 2008 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Noah

Noah Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wealth and asset management service provider with the focus on investment and asset allocation services for high net worth individuals and enterprises in Mainland of China, Hong Kong, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Wealth Management, Asset Management, and Other Services. The company offers investment products, including domestic and overseas mutual fund products, private secondary products, and other products; customized value-added financial services, such as investor education and trust services, as well as insurance brokerage services; and insurance products. It also provides onshore and offshore private equity, real estate, public securities, multi-strategy, and other investment products, as well as lending services. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.