Reviewing B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY) and Janus Henderson Group (NYSE:JHG)

B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY) and Janus Henderson Group (NYSE:JHG) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Dividends

B. Riley Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 33.7%. Janus Henderson Group pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. B. Riley Financial pays out -39.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Janus Henderson Group pays out 58.9% 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. B. Riley Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

B. Riley Financial has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Janus Henderson Group has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.2% of B. Riley Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Janus Henderson Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 32.9% of B. Riley Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.6% of Janus Henderson Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for B. Riley Financial and Janus Henderson Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
B. Riley Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A
Janus Henderson Group	1	5	2	0	2.13

Janus Henderson Group has a consensus price target of $32.92, indicating a potential downside of 8.63%. Given Janus Henderson Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Janus Henderson Group is more favorable than B. Riley Financial.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares B. Riley Financial and Janus Henderson Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
B. Riley Financial	$1.65 billion	0.11	-$99.91 million	($5.01)	-1.18
Janus Henderson Group	$2.10 billion	2.73	$392.00 million	$2.65	13.60

Janus Henderson Group has higher revenue and earnings than B. Riley Financial. B. Riley Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Janus Henderson Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares B. Riley Financial and Janus Henderson Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
B. Riley Financial	-9.28%	-25.84%	-1.75%
Janus Henderson Group	21.02%	10.76%	7.56%

Summary

Janus Henderson Group beats B. Riley Financial on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides financial services to corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients in North America, Australia, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through six segments: Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Financial Consulting, Auction and Liquidation, Communications, and Consumer. The Capital Markets segments offers investment banking, equity research, institutional sales and trading, securities lending, fund and asset management, direct lending, venture capital, proprietary trading, and investment services; merger and acquisition, restructuring advisory, and recapitalization services; public and private equity offerings; and debt financing solutions. This segment also trades in equity securities. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management and tax services. The Financial Consulting segment offers bankruptcy restructuring and turnaround management, forensic accounting and litigation support, valuation and appraisal, and real estate services. The Auction and Liquidation Segment provides auction and liquidation services. The Communications segment offers dial-up, mobile broadband and digital subscriber line services under the NetZero and Juno brands; cloud communication services; VoIP cloud-based technology and communication devices and subscription services through magicJack; and mobile phone voice, text, and data services and devices through Marconi Wireless. The Consumer segment sells laptop and computer accessories. The company was formerly known as Great American Group, Inc. and changed its name to B. Riley Financial, Inc. in November 2014. B. Riley Financial, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Janus Henderson Group

Janus Henderson Group plc is an asset management holding entity. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides services to institutional, retail clients, and high net worth clients. It manages separate client-focused equity and fixed income portfolios. The firm also manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients. It invests in public equity and fixed income markets, as well as invests in real estate and private equity. Janus Henderson Group plc was founded in 1934 and is based in London, United Kingdom with additional offices in Jersey, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia.