CI Financial (NYSE:CIXXF) vs. Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) Financial Review

CI Financial (NYSE:CIXXF) and Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares CI Financial and Value Line’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CI Financial	$1.80 billion	1.15	$230.57 million	$0.35	36.23
Value Line	$39.49 million	10.74	$18.07 million	$1.96	22.96

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

Dividends

CI Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Value Line pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. CI Financial pays out 151.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Value Line pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Value Line has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares CI Financial and Value Line’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CI Financial	3.39%	31.99%	5.58%
Value Line	46.77%	22.28%	14.19%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of CI Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.4% of Value Line shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Value Line shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

CI Financial has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Value Line has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for CI Financial and Value Line, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CI Financial	0	3	0	0	2.00
Value Line	0	0	0	0	N/A

Summary

Value Line beats CI Financial on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm manages separate client focused equity, fixed income, and alternative investments portfolios. It also manages mutual funds, hedge funds, and fund of funds for its clients through its subsidiaries. The firm was founded in 1965 and is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in Vancouver, Canada; Calgary, Canada; and Montreal, Canada.

About Value Line

Value Line, Inc. produces and sells investment periodicals and related publications. Its investment periodicals and related publications cover a range of investments, including stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and options. The company's research services include The Value Line Investment Survey, The Value Line Investment Survey – Small and Mid-Cap, The Value Line 600, and The Value Line Fund Advisor Plus that provide statistical and text coverage of various investment securities, with an emphasis placed on its proprietary research, analysis, and statistical ranks. It also provides niche newsletters comprising Value Line Select: Dividend Income & Growth, Value Line Select: ETFs, The Value Line Special Situations Service, The Value Line M&A Service, The Value Line Climate Change Investing Service, and The Value Line Information You Should Know Wealth Newsletter that offer information on a less comprehensive basis for securities that are of particular interest to subscribers; digital versions of its products through its Website, www.valueline.com; The Value Line Research Center online platform; and investment analysis software, such as The Value Line Investment Analyzer and The New Value Line ETFs Service. In addition, the company offers current and historical financial databases comprising fundamental DataFile, estimates and projections, and mutual funds; and copyright products, which include unit investment trusts, variable annuities, managed accounts, and ETFs. Further, it operates as publishing unit for the investment related periodical publications and copyrights; places advertising on behalf of the company's publications; and distributes print publications. It serves individual and professional investors, as well as institutions, including municipal and university libraries, and investment firms. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Value Line, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc.