Head to Head Contrast: Acadian Asset Management (NYSE:AAMI) and Crescent Capital BDC (NASDAQ:CCAP)

Crescent Capital BDC (NASDAQ:CCAP) and Acadian Asset Management (NYSE:AAMI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Crescent Capital BDC and Acadian Asset Management”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crescent Capital BDC	$167.29 million	1.99	$34.51 million	($0.09)	-100.22
Acadian Asset Management	$563.70 million	5.93	$80.00 million	$2.83	33.28

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

Dividends

Crescent Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.1%. Acadian Asset Management pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Crescent Capital BDC pays out -1,511.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acadian Asset Management pays out 14.1% 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. Crescent Capital BDC has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Crescent Capital BDC is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crescent Capital BDC	-2.02%	9.02%	3.82%
Acadian Asset Management	15.17%	189.32%	21.26%

Risk & Volatility

Crescent Capital BDC has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acadian Asset Management has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Crescent Capital BDC and Acadian Asset Management, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crescent Capital BDC	0	6	1	0	2.14
Acadian Asset Management	0	4	1	0	2.20

Crescent Capital BDC presently has a consensus target price of $12.62, indicating a potential upside of 39.97%. Acadian Asset Management has a consensus target price of $86.33, indicating a potential downside of 8.32%. Given Crescent Capital BDC’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Crescent Capital BDC is more favorable than Acadian Asset Management.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.5% of Crescent Capital BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Acadian Asset Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Crescent Capital BDC shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.6% of Acadian Asset Management shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Acadian Asset Management beats Crescent Capital BDC on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crescent Capital BDC

Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. is as a business development company private equity / buyouts and loan fund. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. The fund seeks to invest in United States.

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.