Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) and Ridgepost Capital (NYSE:RPC) Critical Survey

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) and Ridgepost Capital (NYSE:RPC) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Virtu Financial has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ridgepost Capital has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Virtu Financial and Ridgepost Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Virtu Financial	1	3	3	1	2.50
Ridgepost Capital	0	2	2	0	2.50

Virtu Financial presently has a consensus price target of $48.67, suggesting a potential downside of 9.39%. Ridgepost Capital has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 43.63%. Given Ridgepost Capital’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ridgepost Capital is more favorable than Virtu Financial.

Dividends

Virtu Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Ridgepost Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Virtu Financial pays out 15.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ridgepost Capital pays out 68.2% 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Virtu Financial and Ridgepost Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Virtu Financial	$3.63 billion	2.29	$468.36 million	$6.04	8.89
Ridgepost Capital	$297.35 million	3.08	$19.50 million	$0.22	37.98

Virtu Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Ridgepost Capital. Virtu Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ridgepost Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Virtu Financial and Ridgepost Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Virtu Financial	14.17%	51.63%	4.51%
Ridgepost Capital	7.99%	24.58%	10.56%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.8% of Virtu Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.1% of Ridgepost Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 46.8% of Virtu Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.5% of Ridgepost Capital shares are held by 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.

Summary

Virtu Financial beats Ridgepost Capital on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc., a financial services company, provides data, analytics, and connectivity products to clients worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product suite includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology. The company’s solutions enable clients to trade on various venues across countries and in multiple asset classes, including global equities, ETFs, foreign exchange, futures, fixed income, cryptocurrencies, and other commodities. Its analytics platform provides a range of pre- and post-trade services, data products, and compliance tools for clients to invest, trade, and manage risk across markets. Virtu Financial, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Ridgepost Capital

P10, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-asset class private market solutions provider in the alternative asset management industry in the United States. The company offers private equity, venture capital, private credit, impact investing, and private credit services, as well as primary fund of funds, secondary investment, and direct and co-investments services. It also provides tax credit transaction and consulting services. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.