Critical Contrast: The Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and The Competition

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) is one of 1,746 publicly-traded companies in the “Capital Markets” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare The Goldman Sachs Group to related companies based on the strength of its risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

The Goldman Sachs Group pays an annual dividend of $20.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. The Goldman Sachs Group pays out 28.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 29.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. The Goldman Sachs Group has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.2% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.6% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for The Goldman Sachs Group and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Goldman Sachs Group	1	13	9	1	2.42
The Goldman Sachs Group Competitors	5616	20218	22575	650	2.37

The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus target price of $1,052.04, suggesting a potential upside of 14.85%. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies have a potential upside of 23.53%. Given The Goldman Sachs Group’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe The Goldman Sachs Group has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares The Goldman Sachs Group and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Goldman Sachs Group	15.77%	20.21%	1.08%
The Goldman Sachs Group Competitors	314.70%	9.80%	3.42%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares The Goldman Sachs Group and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Goldman Sachs Group	$125.10 billion	$17.18 billion	13.17
The Goldman Sachs Group Competitors	$2.38 billion	$398.05 million	15.01

The Goldman Sachs Group has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. The Goldman Sachs Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

The Goldman Sachs Group has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Goldman Sachs Group’s competitors have a beta of 0.79, meaning that their average stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

The Goldman Sachs Group beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a global financial services firm founded in 1869 and headquartered in New York City. It serves corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals across major financial markets worldwide. The company’s businesses include investment banking, global markets, and asset and wealth management. Its services include advising on mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions, helping clients raise capital, facilitating trading and risk management, and managing investments and wealth for institutions and individuals.