UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION) Critical Survey

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) and UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Dividends

CION Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.1%. UBS Group pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. CION Investment pays out 2,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UBS Group pays out 11.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CION Investment has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and UBS Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares CION Investment and UBS Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CION Investment	$14.59 million	23.66	-$20.63 million	$0.06	116.92
UBS Group	$50.90 billion	2.93	$7.77 billion	$2.94	16.24

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for CION Investment and UBS Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CION Investment	1	2	0	0	1.67
UBS Group	2	5	4	0	2.18

CION Investment currently has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential downside of 7.34%. UBS Group has a consensus price target of $60.30, indicating a potential upside of 26.32%. Given UBS Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe UBS Group is more favorable than CION Investment.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

32.0% of CION Investment shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of CION Investment shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of UBS Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares CION Investment and UBS Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CION Investment	1.17%	11.95%	4.52%
UBS Group	13.10%	10.50%	0.57%

Risk and Volatility

CION Investment has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UBS Group has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

UBS Group beats CION Investment on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies. The firm invests in growth capital, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, market/product expansion, refinancing and recapitalization. The fund also invests up to 30 percent of their assets opportunistically in other types of investments, including the securities of larger public companies and foreign securities. It also makes investments in the secondary loan market. The fund does not invest in start-up companies, turnaround situations, or companies with speculative business plans. The fund prefers to invest in high tech industries, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, business services, media, chemicals, plastic, rubber, telecommunication, consumer services, advertising, printing and publishing, consumer goods, durables, diversified financials, and other industries. It also invests in homebuilding, restaurants, beverage and tobacco bars, broadcasting, distributors, Non-durable good distribution, food beverage and tobacco, energy, oil gas and consumables fuels, insurance, aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, paper and forest product machinery, information technology, metals and mining, and real estate. It primarily seeks to invest in the United States. The fund seeks to invest between $5 million and $50 million in companies with an EBITDA between $25 million and $75 million with average targeted hold of $25 million. It also purchases minority interests in the form of common or preferred equity in the target companies, typically in conjunction with its debt investments or through a co-investment with a financial sponsor. The fund seeks to exit its investments through an initial public offering of common stock, a merger, a sale, or other recapitalization.

About UBS Group

UBS Group AG provides financial advice and solutions to private, institutional, and corporate clients worldwide. It operates through five divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Investment Bank, and Non-core and Legacy. The company offers investment advice, estate and wealth planning, investing, corporate and banking, and investment management, as well as mortgage, securities-based, and structured lending solutions. It also provides personal banking products and services, such as deposits, credit and debit cards, and online and mobile banking, as well as lending, investments, retirement, and wealth management services; and corporate and institutional solutions, including equity and debt capital markets, syndicated and structured credit, private placements, leasing, traditional financing, and transaction banking solutions for payment and cash management services, trade and export finance, and global custody solutions. In addition, the company offers equities, fixed income, hedge funds, real estate and private markets, indexed and alternative beta strategies, asset allocation and currency investment strategies, customized multi-asset solutions, advisory and fiduciary services, and multi-manager hedge fund solutions and advisory services. Further, it advises clients on strategic business opportunities and helps them raise capital to fund their activities; enables its clients to buy, sell, and finance securities on capital markets and to manage their risks and liquidity; distributes, trades in, finances, and clears cash equities and equity-linked products; structures, originates, and distributes new equity and equity-linked issues; and originates, distributes, manages risk, and provides liquidity in foreign exchange, rates, credit and precious metals. The company was formerly known as UBS AG and changed its name to UBS Group AG in December 2014. UBS Group AG was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.