Contrasting AllianceBernstein (AB) and The Competition

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) is one of 1,746 public companies in the “Capital Markets” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare AllianceBernstein to related companies based on the strength of its risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares AllianceBernstein and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AllianceBernstein	6.47%	25.97%	25.95%
AllianceBernstein Competitors	314.79%	9.90%	3.46%

Volatility & Risk

AllianceBernstein has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AllianceBernstein’s peers have a beta of 0.79, meaning that their average stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for AllianceBernstein and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AllianceBernstein	0	5	1	0	2.17
AllianceBernstein Competitors	5605	20208	22559	650	2.37

AllianceBernstein currently has a consensus target price of $36.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.70%. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies have a potential upside of 22.82%. Given AllianceBernstein’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AllianceBernstein has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares AllianceBernstein and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
AllianceBernstein	$4.53 billion	$299.84 million	10.03
AllianceBernstein Competitors	$2.87 billion	$397.40 million	15.80

AllianceBernstein has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. AllianceBernstein is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

AllianceBernstein pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.4%. AllianceBernstein pays out 104.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 29.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.3% of AllianceBernstein shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.6% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of AllianceBernstein shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

AllianceBernstein peers beat AllianceBernstein on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein L.P. is a global investment management and research firm serving institutional and individual clients. Its offerings include active equity and fixed-income strategies, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments, as well as private wealth management services. The firm was formed in 2000 through the merger of Alliance Capital Management and Sanford C. Bernstein. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, AllianceBernstein serves clients through offices and operations around the world.