Comparing SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) & Great Elm Capital Group (NASDAQ:GECC)

Great Elm Capital Group (NASDAQ:GECC) and SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

38.8% of Great Elm Capital Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.6% of SEI Investments shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Great Elm Capital Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.6% of SEI Investments shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Great Elm Capital Group has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEI Investments has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Great Elm Capital Group and SEI Investments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Elm Capital Group	-63.59%	13.19%	4.55%
SEI Investments	31.14%	30.26%	25.33%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Great Elm Capital Group and SEI Investments”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Elm Capital Group	$49.99 million	1.56	-$31.79 million	($2.30)	-2.42
SEI Investments	$2.30 billion	4.24	$715.30 million	$5.63	14.15

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Great Elm Capital Group and SEI Investments, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Elm Capital Group	2	2	0	0	1.50
SEI Investments	0	2	7	0	2.78

Great Elm Capital Group presently has a consensus price target of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 88.51%. SEI Investments has a consensus price target of $109.67, suggesting a potential upside of 37.70%. Given Great Elm Capital Group’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Great Elm Capital Group is more favorable than SEI Investments.

Dividends

Great Elm Capital Group pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 26.6%. SEI Investments pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Great Elm Capital Group pays out -64.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SEI Investments pays out 18.5% 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. Great Elm Capital Group has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and SEI Investments has raised its dividend for 34 consecutive years. Great Elm Capital Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

SEI Investments beats Great Elm Capital Group on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Elm Capital Group

Great Elm Capital Corp. is a business development company which specializes in loan and mezzanine, middle market investments. It invests in the debt instruments of middle market companies. The fund prefers to invest in media, commercial services and supplies, healthcare, telecommunication services, communications equipment. It typically makes equity investments between $3 million and $10 million in companies with revenues between $3 million and $75 million.

About SEI Investments

SEI Investments Company is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides wealth management, retirement and investment solutions, asset management, asset administration, investment processing outsourcing solutions, financial services, and investment advisory services to its clients. It provides its services to private banks, independent financial advisers, institutional investors, investment managers, investment advisors, wealth management organizations, corporations, retirement scheme sponsors, not-for-profit organizations, hedge fund managers, registered investment advisers, independent broker-dealers, financial planners, life insurance agents, defined-benefit schemes, defined-contribution schemes, endowments, foundations, and board-designated fund, through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm manages separate client-focused portfolios. It also launches and manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds, through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm invests in public equity and fixed income markets. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on top-down and bottom-up analysis to make its investments, through its subsidiaries. SEI Investments Company was founded in 1968 and is based in Oaks, Pennsylvania.