Critical Analysis: Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) & PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT)

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) and PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Point Credit and PJT Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Point Credit	-84.29%	-1.83%	-0.99%
PJT Partners	10.57%	32.66%	18.28%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eagle Point Credit and PJT Partners”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Point Credit	-$158.23 million	-2.59	-$115.00 million	$0.61	5.09
PJT Partners	$1.89 billion	1.84	$180.12 million	$7.31	18.54

PJT Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Point Credit. Eagle Point Credit is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PJT Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Eagle Point Credit has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PJT Partners has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Eagle Point Credit and PJT Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Point Credit	0	2	2	0	2.50
PJT Partners	1	4	2	0	2.14

Eagle Point Credit currently has a consensus price target of $4.62, suggesting a potential upside of 48.95%. PJT Partners has a consensus price target of $170.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.41%. Given Eagle Point Credit’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Eagle Point Credit is more favorable than PJT Partners.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.5% of Eagle Point Credit shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.2% of PJT Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Eagle Point Credit shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of PJT Partners 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.

Dividends

Eagle Point Credit pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 40.6%. PJT Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Eagle Point Credit pays out 206.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. PJT Partners pays out 13.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

PJT Partners beats Eagle Point Credit on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Point Credit

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S. senior secured loans. Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. was formed on March 24, 2014 and is domiciled in the United States.

About PJT Partners

PJT Partners Inc., an investment bank, provides various strategic and capital markets advisory, restructuring and special situations, and shareholder advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. It offers advisory services to clients on various transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), spin-offs, activism defense, contested M&A, joint ventures, minority investments, and divestitures. The company also advises private and public company boards and management teams on strategies for building productive investor relationships with a focus on shareholder engagement; and strategic investor relations; environmental, social, and governance matters; and other investor-related matters. In addition, it provides advisory services related to debt and acquisition financings; structured product offerings; public equity raises, including initial public offering and SPAC offerings; and private capital raises for early and later stage companies, as well as other capital structure related matters. Further, the company offers advisory services in financial restructurings and reorganizations; liability management; distressed mergers and acquisitions; and to management teams, corporate boards, sponsors and creditors. Additionally, it provides private fund advisory and fundraising services for a range of investment strategies; and advisory services to general and partners on liquidity and other structured solutions. The company was formerly known as Blackstone Advisory Inc. and changed its name to PJT Partners Inc. in March 2015. PJT Partners Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.