Comparing Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) and Acadian Asset Management (NYSE:AAMI)

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) and Acadian Asset Management (NYSE:AAMI) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

57.0% of Morningstar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Acadian Asset Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.9% of Morningstar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 27.7% of Acadian Asset Management shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Morningstar and Acadian Asset Management’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morningstar	14.69%	23.28%	9.66%
Acadian Asset Management	16.81%	1,000.27%	18.11%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Morningstar and Acadian Asset Management, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morningstar	0	1	2	0	2.67
Acadian Asset Management	0	1	0	0	2.00

Morningstar currently has a consensus price target of $366.67, indicating a potential upside of 21.41%. Acadian Asset Management has a consensus price target of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.28%. Given Morningstar’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Morningstar is more favorable than Acadian Asset Management.

Volatility and Risk

Morningstar has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acadian Asset Management has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Morningstar and Acadian Asset Management”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morningstar	$2.28 billion	5.69	$141.10 million	$8.57	35.24
Acadian Asset Management	$505.60 million	1.98	$85.00 million	$2.24	11.90

Morningstar has higher revenue and earnings than Acadian Asset Management. Acadian Asset Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morningstar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Morningstar pays an annual dividend of $1.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Acadian Asset Management pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Morningstar pays out 21.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acadian Asset Management pays out 1.8% 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. Morningstar has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Morningstar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Morningstar beats Acadian Asset Management on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement. The company offers managing investments, including mutual funds, ETFs, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, model portfolios, equities, and fixed income securities; Morningstar Direct is an investment-analysis and reporting platform; Morningstar Advisor Workstation, a suite of tool to provide help and advice. The PitchBook segment provides data and research covering the private capital markets comprising venture capital, private equity, private credit and bank loans, and merger and acquisition activities; and pitchbook platform. It provides model portfolios and wealth platforms; Morningstar Managed Portfolios, an advisor service with model portfolios designed for fee-based independent financial advisors; and Morningstar.com that discovers, evaluates, and monitors stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds; build and monitor portfolios and markets. In addition, the company provides credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions; Morningstar DBRS which offers securitizations and other structured finance instruments, such as asset-backed securities, residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized loan obligations. Further, it offers managed retirement accounts, fiduciary services, Morningstar Lifetime Allocation funds, and custom models; Morningstar Indexes offers market indexes used for performance benchmarks and as the basis for investment products and other portfolio strategies; and Morningstar Sustainalytics provides environmental, social and governance data, research, analysis, and insights. Morningstar, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Acadian Asset Management

Acadian Asset Management Inc. is a publically owned asset management holding company. The firm provides its services to individuals and institutions. It manages separate client focused portfolios through its subsidiaries. The firm also launches equity mutual funds for its clients. It invests in public equity, fixed income, and alternative investment markets through its subsidiaries. The firm was founded in 1980 is based Boston, Massachusetts. It was formally known as BrightSphere Investment Group plc. BrightSphere Investment Group Inc. was formed in 1980 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.