Head-To-Head Comparison: Westwood Holdings Group (WHG) and Its Rivals

Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) is one of 1,744 public companies in the “Capital Markets” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Westwood Holdings Group to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

56.6% of Westwood Holdings Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.4% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are held by institutional investors. 17.4% of Westwood Holdings Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are held 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.

Risk and Volatility

Westwood Holdings Group has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westwood Holdings Group’s rivals have a beta of 0.81, suggesting that their average stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Westwood Holdings Group pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Westwood Holdings Group pays out 68.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 30.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Westwood Holdings Group lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Westwood Holdings Group and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westwood Holdings Group	$97.76 million	$7.06 million	21.72
Westwood Holdings Group Competitors	$2.54 billion	$394.83 million	17.08

Westwood Holdings Group’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Westwood Holdings Group. Westwood Holdings Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Westwood Holdings Group and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westwood Holdings Group	7.73%	8.10%	6.59%
Westwood Holdings Group Competitors	313.70%	79.21%	3.63%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Westwood Holdings Group and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westwood Holdings Group	0	0	1	0	3.00
Westwood Holdings Group Competitors	5546	20107	22439	641	2.37

As a group, “Capital Markets” companies have a potential upside of 25.57%. Given Westwood Holdings Group’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Westwood Holdings Group has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Summary

Westwood Holdings Group rivals beat Westwood Holdings Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manages investment assets and provides services for its clients. The company operates in two segments, Advisory and Trust. The Advisory segment provides investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, individuals, and the Westwood Funds; and investment sub-advisory services to mutual funds, pooled investment vehicles, and its Trust segment. The Trust segment offers trust and custodial services; and participates in common trust funds that it sponsors to institutions and high net worth individuals. Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Dallas, Texas.