Contrasting Global Capital Partners (OTCMKTS:GCPL) & LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA)

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) and Global Capital Partners (OTCMKTS:GCPL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for LPL Financial and Global Capital Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LPL Financial	0	7	9	1	2.65
Global Capital Partners	0	0	0	0	0.00

LPL Financial currently has a consensus price target of $430.13, suggesting a potential upside of 19.54%. Given LPL Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe LPL Financial is more favorable than Global Capital Partners.

Profitability

This table compares LPL Financial and Global Capital Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LPL Financial	5.35%	36.80%	9.48%
Global Capital Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares LPL Financial and Global Capital Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LPL Financial	$12.39 billion	2.33	$1.06 billion	$10.86	33.13
Global Capital Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

LPL Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Global Capital Partners.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.7% of LPL Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of LPL Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.5% of Global Capital Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

LPL Financial beats Global Capital Partners on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance. The company also provides fee-based platforms that provide access to mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, certain option strategies, unit investment trusts, and institutional money managers and no-load multi-manager variable annuities. In addition, it offers money market products; and retirement solutions for commission-and fee-based services that allow advisors to provide brokerage services, consultation, and advice to retirement plan sponsors. Further, the company provides other services comprising tools and services that enable advisors to maintain and grow their practices; trust, investment management oversight, and custodial services for estates and families, as well as insurance brokerage general agency services; and technology products, such as proposal generation, investment analytics, and portfolio modeling. The company was formerly known as LPL Investment Holdings Inc. and changed its name to LPL Financial Holdings Inc. in June 2012. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in San Diego, California.

About Global Capital Partners

Global Capital Partners, Inc. engages in the provision of investment banking and securities network. It operates an investment banking and brokerage firm, and also hold interests in an online trading firm and internet-based business. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Charlotte, NC.