Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM – Get Free Report) and Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Artisan Partners Asset Management and Portman Ridge Finance, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Artisan Partners Asset Management | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2.17 |
| Portman Ridge Finance | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has a consensus price target of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.33%. Portman Ridge Finance has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 86.17%. Given Portman Ridge Finance’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Portman Ridge Finance is more favorable than Artisan Partners Asset Management.
Risk & Volatility
Institutional & Insider Ownership
86.5% of Artisan Partners Asset Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.1% of Portman Ridge Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 12.5% of Artisan Partners Asset Management shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Portman Ridge Finance shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Artisan Partners Asset Management pays an annual dividend of $4.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.0%. Portman Ridge Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 25.0%. Artisan Partners Asset Management pays out 100.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Portman Ridge Finance pays out -202.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Portman Ridge Finance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Artisan Partners Asset Management and Portman Ridge Finance”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Artisan Partners Asset Management | $1.20 billion | 2.46 | $290.32 million | $4.01 | 9.12 |
| Portman Ridge Finance | -$2.85 million | -34.87 | -$5.93 million | ($0.93) | -8.09 |
Artisan Partners Asset Management has higher revenue and earnings than Portman Ridge Finance. Portman Ridge Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Artisan Partners Asset Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Artisan Partners Asset Management and Portman Ridge Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Artisan Partners Asset Management | 24.26% | 73.73% | 21.39% |
| Portman Ridge Finance | -15.92% | 11.49% | 4.54% |
Summary
Artisan Partners Asset Management beats Portman Ridge Finance on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Portman Ridge Finance
Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business. It primarily invests in healthcare, cargo transport, manufacturing, industrial & environmental services, logistics & distribution, media & telecommunications, real estate, education, automotive, agriculture, aerospace/defense, packaging, electronics, finance, non-durable consumer, consumer products, business services, utilities, insurance, and food and beverage sectors. The fund typically invests $1 million to $20 million in its portfolio companies. It provides senior secured term loans from $2 million to $20 million maturing in five to seven years; second lien term loans from $5 million to $15 million maturing in six to eight years; senior unsecured loans $5 million to $23 million maturing in six to eight years; mezzanine loans from $5 million to $15 million maturing in seven to ten years; and equity investments from $1 to $5 million. The fund targets the companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million. While investing in debt securities, it invests in those middle market firms with EBITDA between $10 million and $50 million and/or total debt between $25 million and $150 million. It invests in minority, and majority or control equity positions alongside its private equity sponsor partners.
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