Analyzing Pacific Ventures Group (OTCMKTS:PACV) & Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM)

Pacific Ventures Group (OTCMKTS:PACV) and Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.5% of Artisan Partners Asset Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.7% of Pacific Ventures Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Artisan Partners Asset Management shares are owned by company 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 current recommendations for Pacific Ventures Group and Artisan Partners Asset Management, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pacific Ventures Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Artisan Partners Asset Management	0	4	2	1	2.57

Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus target price of $44.25, suggesting a potential upside of 6.74%. Given Artisan Partners Asset Management’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Artisan Partners Asset Management is more favorable than Pacific Ventures Group.

Profitability

This table compares Pacific Ventures Group and Artisan Partners Asset Management’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pacific Ventures Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Artisan Partners Asset Management	22.90%	72.15%	20.11%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Pacific Ventures Group and Artisan Partners Asset Management”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pacific Ventures Group	$39.91 million	0.00	-$7.73 million	N/A	N/A
Artisan Partners Asset Management	$1.11 billion	3.01	$259.75 million	$3.66	11.33

Artisan Partners Asset Management has higher revenue and earnings than Pacific Ventures Group.

Volatility and Risk

Pacific Ventures Group has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Artisan Partners Asset Management beats Pacific Ventures Group on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pacific Ventures Group

Pacific Ventures Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, sells, and distributes alcohol-infused ice creams and ice-pops. It sells its alcohol-infused ice-pops and ice creams under the SnöBar brand name. The company is also involved in the sale and lease of freezers, as well as the provision of marketing services; and supply of fresh and specialty produce, meat, and food products to redistributors, hotels, restaurants, schools, and nursing homes. In addition, it manufactures and wholesales custom processed beef, pork, chicken, lamb, veal, and seafood products; and supplies fruits, vegetables, and specialty groceries to retail customers and wholesale restaurants. Pacific Ventures Group, Inc. is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. is publicly owned investment manager. It provides its services to pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, endowments, foundations, charitable organizations, government entities, private funds and non-U.S. funds, as well as mutual funds, non-U.S. funds and collective trusts. It manages separate client-focused equity and fixed income portfolios. The firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It invests in growth and value stocks of companies across all market capitalization. For fixed income component of its portfolio the firm invests in non-investment grade corporate bonds and secured and unsecured loans. It employs fundamental analysis to create its portfolios. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with additional offices in Atlanta, Georgia; New York City; San Francisco, California; Leawood, Kansas; and London, United Kingdom.