Head to Head Contrast: Merriman (OTCMKTS:MERR) and WisdomTree (NYSE:WT)

Merriman (OTCMKTS:MERR) and WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Merriman has a beta of -1.12, suggesting that its share price is 212% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WisdomTree has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Merriman and WisdomTree’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merriman	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
WisdomTree	$301.35 million	3.66	$50.68 million	$0.72	10.19

WisdomTree has higher revenue and earnings than Merriman.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.8% of WisdomTree shares are held by institutional investors. 63.0% of Merriman shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of WisdomTree shares are held 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merriman	N/A	N/A	N/A
WisdomTree	39.37%	12.00%	4.24%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Merriman and WisdomTree, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merriman	0	0	0	0	N/A
WisdomTree	0	1	2	0	2.67

WisdomTree has a consensus target price of $8.75, indicating a potential upside of 19.21%. Given WisdomTree’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WisdomTree is more favorable than Merriman.

Summary

WisdomTree beats Merriman on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Merriman

Merriman Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Merriman Capital, Inc., provides capital market advisory and research, corporate, and investment banking services primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's investment banking services include corporate financing services, such as initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and private placements services; and strategic advisory services comprise transaction-specific advice regarding mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and privatizations, as well as general strategic advice. It also offers institutional brokerage services, including institutional sales trading and equity execution, and options execution services to institutional clients. In addition, the company executes securities transactions for money managers, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, and pension and profit-sharing plans; and provides integrated research and trading solutions, as well as capital markets advisory services. It primarily serves institutional investors and corporate clients. The company was formerly known as Merriman Curhan Ford Group, Inc. and changed its name to Merriman Holdings, Inc. in August 2010. Merriman Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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.