Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) & CI Financial (NYSE:CIXXF) Financial Analysis

CI Financial (NYSE:CIXXF) and Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Dividends

CI Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Westwood Holdings Group pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. CI Financial pays out -2,948.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westwood Holdings Group pays out 50.8% 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. CI Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

CI Financial has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westwood Holdings Group has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.6% of Westwood Holdings Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.1% of Westwood Holdings Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares CI Financial and Westwood Holdings Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CI Financial	0.21%	40.15%	5.43%
Westwood Holdings Group	11.77%	12.78%	10.17%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for CI Financial and Westwood Holdings Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CI Financial	0	3	0	0	2.00
Westwood Holdings Group	0	0	0	0	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CI Financial and Westwood Holdings Group’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CI Financial	$2.03 billion	0.92	$3.72 million	($0.02)	-599.90
Westwood Holdings Group	$89.78 million	1.36	$10.57 million	$1.18	11.12

Westwood Holdings Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than CI Financial. CI Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westwood Holdings Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Westwood Holdings Group beats CI Financial on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm manages separate client focused equity, fixed income, and alternative investments portfolios. It also manages mutual funds, hedge funds, and fund of funds for its clients through its subsidiaries. The firm was founded in 1965 and is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in Vancouver, Canada; Calgary, Canada; and Montreal, Canada.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manages investment assets and provides services for its clients. The company operates in two segments, Advisory and Trust. The Advisory segment provides investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, individuals, and the Westwood Funds; and investment sub-advisory services to mutual funds, pooled investment vehicles, and its Trust segment. The Trust segment offers trust and custodial services; and participates in common trust funds that it sponsors to institutions and high net worth individuals. Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Dallas, Texas.