GAMCO Investors (NYSE:GAMI – Get Rating) and SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
Risk and Volatility
GAMCO Investors has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEI Investments has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Get GAMCO Investors alerts:Insider & Institutional Ownership
30.5% of GAMCO Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.5% of SEI Investments shares are owned by institutional investors. 81.2% of GAMCO Investors shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 25.4% of SEI Investments shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
GAMCO Investors pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. SEI Investments pays an annual dividend of $0.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. GAMCO Investors pays out 7.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SEI Investments pays out 23.6% 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. SEI Investments has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. SEI Investments is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for GAMCO Investors and SEI Investments, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| GAMCO Investors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| SEI Investments | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
SEI Investments has a consensus target price of $59.80, indicating a potential upside of 2.57%. Given SEI Investments' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SEI Investments is more favorable than GAMCO Investors.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares GAMCO Investors and SEI Investments' gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| GAMCO Investors | $301.13 million | 1.33 | $73.20 million | $2.09 | 7.29 |
| SEI Investments | $1.92 billion | 4.10 | $546.59 million | $3.65 | 15.97 |
SEI Investments has higher revenue and earnings than GAMCO Investors. GAMCO Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SEI Investments, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares GAMCO Investors and SEI Investments' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| GAMCO Investors | 19.78% | 51.48% | 24.10% |
| SEI Investments | 24.98% | 28.74% | 23.86% |
Summary
SEI Investments beats GAMCO Investors on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About GAMCO Investors
(Get Rating)
GAMCO Investors, Inc. is a publicly owned holding investment manager. The firm also provides wealth management, investment advisory, institutional research, brokerage, dealer, underwriting, and distribution services to its clients. It provides its services to individuals including high net worth individuals, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, foundations, endowments, jointly trust plans, municipalities, and investment companies. The firm, through its subsidiaries, manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds and manages equity mutual funds for its clients. Through its subsidiaries the firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It invests in value stocks of companies. The firm employs fundamental analysis with a focus on bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolios. It conducts in-house research to make its investments. The firm was founded in 1976 and is based in Rye, New York with additional offices in Greenwich, Connecticut; Bannockburn, Illinois; and Tokyo, Japan. GAMCO Investors, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Ggcp Holdings Llc.
About SEI Investments
(Get Rating)
SEI Investments Company is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides wealth management, retirement and investment solutions, asset management, asset administration, investment processing outsourcing solutions, financial services, and investment advisory services to its clients. It provides its services to private banks, independent financial advisers, institutional investors, investment managers, investment advisors, wealth management organizations, corporations, retirement scheme sponsors, not-for-profit organizations, hedge fund managers, registered investment advisers, independent broker-dealers, financial planners, life insurance agents, defined-benefit schemes, defined-contribution schemes, endowments, foundations, and board-designated fund, through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm manages separate client-focused portfolios. It also launches and manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds, through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm invests in public equity and fixed income markets. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on top-down and bottom-up analysis to make its investments, through its subsidiaries. SEI Investments Company was founded in 1968 and is based in Oaks, Pennsylvania.
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