Contrasting Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) and GAMCO Investors (NYSE:GAMI)

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS – Get Rating) and GAMCO Investors (NYSE:GAMI – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Credit Suisse Group and GAMCO Investors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Credit Suisse Group	5	5	2	0	1.75
GAMCO Investors	0	0	0	0	N/A

Credit Suisse Group presently has a consensus target price of $4.73, indicating a potential upside of 433.58%. Given Credit Suisse Group’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Credit Suisse Group is more favorable than GAMCO Investors.

Profitability

This table compares Credit Suisse Group and GAMCO Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Credit Suisse Group	15.12%	23.83%	1.81%
GAMCO Investors	25.70%	48.30%	29.09%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.2% of Credit Suisse Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.5% of GAMCO Investors shares are held by institutional investors. 81.2% of GAMCO Investors shares are held by company 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 Credit Suisse Group and GAMCO Investors’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Credit Suisse Group	$22.88 billion	0.12	-$7.64 billion	$0.65	1.36
GAMCO Investors	$258.75 million	1.87	$65.56 million	$2.47	7.70

GAMCO Investors has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Credit Suisse Group. Credit Suisse Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GAMCO Investors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Credit Suisse Group has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GAMCO Investors has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

GAMCO Investors beats Credit Suisse Group on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Credit Suisse Group

(Get Rating)

Credit Suisse Group AG is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following four divisions: Wealth Management, Investment Bank, Swiss Bank and Asset Management and four geographic regions: Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific, and Americas. The Wealth Management division offers comprehensive wealth management and investment solutions, tailored financing, and advisory services to ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) and high net-worth (HNW) individuals and external asset managers. The Investment Bank division offers a broad range of financial products and services focused on client-driven businesses and also supports Credit Suisse’s Wealth Management division and its clients. The Swiss Bank division offers comprehensive advice and a wide range of financial solutions to private, corporate, and institutional clients in Switzerland. The Asset Management division offers investment solutions and services globally to a broad range of clients, including pension funds, governments, foundations and endowments, corporations, and individuals. The company was founded by Alfred Escher on July 5, 1856 and is headqua

About GAMCO Investors

(Get Rating)

GAMCO Investors, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the provision of investment advisory and asset management services. It offers investment advisory principally through Gabelli Funds and GAMCO Asset, which manages separate accounts for high net worth individuals, institutions, and qualified pension plans, and through its role as advisor to a family of mutual funds. The company was founded by Mario J. Gabelli in 1976 and is headquartered in Rye, NY.