Contrasting Great Elm Group (NASDAQ:GEG) and Acadian Asset Management (NYSE:AAMI)

Acadian Asset Management (NYSE:AAMI) and Great Elm Group (NASDAQ:GEG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Acadian Asset Management and Great Elm Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acadian Asset Management	0	1	1	2	3.25
Great Elm Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Acadian Asset Management currently has a consensus target price of $100.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.20%. Given Acadian Asset Management’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Acadian Asset Management is more favorable than Great Elm Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.7% of Acadian Asset Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Great Elm Group shares are held by institutional investors. 22.6% of Acadian Asset Management shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 52.4% of Great Elm Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Acadian Asset Management and Great Elm Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acadian Asset Management	$563.70 million	5.95	$80.00 million	$3.41	27.88
Great Elm Group	$27.78 million	2.40	-$35.44 million	($1.05)	-2.06

Acadian Asset Management has higher revenue and earnings than Great Elm Group. Great Elm Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acadian Asset Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Acadian Asset Management has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Elm Group has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Acadian Asset Management and Great Elm Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acadian Asset Management	17.02%	139.70%	22.94%
Great Elm Group	-160.19%	-73.59%	-27.65%

Summary

Acadian Asset Management beats Great Elm Group on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acadian Asset Management

Acadian Asset Management is a global investment manager specializing in systematic, data-driven investment strategies. Founded in 1986, the firm applies quantitative research and technology to analyze markets and build portfolios. The firm offers investment strategies across global, international and emerging-markets equities, as well as multi-asset and alternative investments. Its offerings include long-only and long-short approaches and customized portfolio solutions for institutional investors and other clients.

About Great Elm Group

Great Elm Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEG) is a diversified holding company focused on asset management, specialty finance and related investment activities. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, the company seeks to invest in and manage a range of financial assets and operating businesses. One of Great Elm Group’s principal activities is alternative asset management. Its investment-management operations have been associated with investment vehicles that pursue credit and other opportunistic strategies, including Great Elm Capital Corp., a business development company.