Associated Capital Group (NYSE:AC) versus Hennessy Advisors (NASDAQ:HNNA) Critical Comparison

Profitability

This table compares Hennessy Advisors and Associated Capital Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hennessy Advisors	27.55%	10.48%	6.38%
Associated Capital Group	451.70%	6.01%	5.67%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hennessy Advisors and Associated Capital Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hennessy Advisors	$29.65 million	3.02	$7.10 million	$1.25	9.19
Associated Capital Group	$60.64 million	12.82	$44.33 million	$2.53	14.53

Associated Capital Group has higher revenue and earnings than Hennessy Advisors. Hennessy Advisors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Associated Capital Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Hennessy Advisors pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Associated Capital Group pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Hennessy Advisors pays out 44.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Capital Group pays out 7.9% 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.

Volatility and Risk

Hennessy Advisors has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Capital Group has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.3% of Hennessy Advisors shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.1% of Associated Capital Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.4% of Hennessy Advisors shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 88.7% of Associated Capital Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Associated Capital Group beats Hennessy Advisors on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hennessy Advisors

Hennessy Advisors, Inc. is an employee owned investment manager. It provides its services to Hennessy Funds and investment companies. The firm launches and manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds. It invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth stocks of companies. It conducts in-house research to make its investments. Hennessy Advisors, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in Novato, California with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

About Associated Capital Group

Associated Capital Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment advisory services in the United States. The company offers alternative investment management services; and operates a direct investment business. It also invests in new and existing businesses. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Associated Capital Group, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of GGCP Holdings LLC.