Reviewing Patria Investments (NYSE:PAX) & SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC)

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) and Patria Investments (NYSE:PAX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares SEI Investments and Patria Investments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SEI Investments	28.85%	29.16%	22.68%
Patria Investments	19.91%	38.68%	15.84%

Volatility & Risk

SEI Investments has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Patria Investments has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

SEI Investments pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Patria Investments pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. SEI Investments pays out 18.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Patria Investments pays out 147.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SEI Investments has raised its dividend for 34 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for SEI Investments and Patria Investments, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SEI Investments	0	1	7	0	2.88
Patria Investments	3	1	1	0	1.60

SEI Investments currently has a consensus price target of $122.60, indicating a potential upside of 17.01%. Patria Investments has a consensus price target of $12.75, indicating a potential upside of 25.62%. Given Patria Investments’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Patria Investments is more favorable than SEI Investments.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.6% of SEI Investments shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Patria Investments shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of SEI Investments shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 58.1% of Patria Investments shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SEI Investments and Patria Investments”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SEI Investments	$2.30 billion	5.47	$715.30 million	$5.67	18.48
Patria Investments	$399.23 million	1.69	$73.40 million	$0.44	23.07

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

Summary

SEI Investments beats Patria Investments on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Patria Investments

Patria Investments Limited operates as a private market investment firm focused on investing in Latin America. The company offers asset management services to investors focusing on private equity funds, infrastructure development funds, co-investments funds, constructivist equity funds, and real estate and credit funds. Patria Investments Limited was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.