Comparing WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) & Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) and WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Virtu Financial and WisdomTree’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Virtu Financial	6.53%	18.21%	2.53%
WisdomTree	39.37%	12.00%	4.24%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Virtu Financial and WisdomTree, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Virtu Financial	0	4	1	0	2.20
WisdomTree	0	1	2	0	2.67

Virtu Financial presently has a consensus target price of $22.40, suggesting a potential upside of 18.52%. WisdomTree has a consensus target price of $8.75, suggesting a potential upside of 19.21%. Given WisdomTree’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe WisdomTree is more favorable than Virtu Financial.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

46.0% of Virtu Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.8% of WisdomTree shares are held by institutional investors. 44.8% of Virtu Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of WisdomTree shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Virtu Financial and WisdomTree’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Virtu Financial	$2.19 billion	1.41	$265.03 million	$1.36	13.90
WisdomTree	$313.49 million	3.52	$50.68 million	$0.72	10.19

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

Dividends

Virtu Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. WisdomTree pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Virtu Financial pays out 70.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WisdomTree pays out 16.7% 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.

Risk & Volatility

Virtu Financial has a beta of 0.24, meaning that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WisdomTree has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

WisdomTree beats Virtu Financial on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc., a financial services company in New York. The company operates through two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product suite includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology. The company's solutions enable clients to trade on various venues across countries and in multiple asset classes, including global equities, ETFs, foreign exchange, futures, fixed income, cryptocurrencies, and other commodities. Its analytics platform provides a range of pre- and post-trade services, data products, and compliance tools for clients to invest, trade, and manage risk across markets. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsor and asset manager. It offers ETFs in equities, currency, fixed income, and alternatives asset classes. The company also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products, as well as offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans. It develops index using its fundamentally weighted index methodology. In addition, the company provides investment advisory services. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in New York, New York.