Contrasting DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) & Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)

DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) and Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and Franklin Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DigitalBridge Group	12.33%	2.39%	0.79%
Franklin Resources	12.30%	11.15%	4.69%

Dividends

DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Franklin Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. DigitalBridge Group pays out 8.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franklin Resources pays out 65.3% 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. Franklin Resources has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Franklin Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for DigitalBridge Group and Franklin Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DigitalBridge Group	0	0	4	1	3.20
Franklin Resources	2	5	0	0	1.71

DigitalBridge Group currently has a consensus price target of $22.08, indicating a potential upside of 25.97%. Franklin Resources has a consensus price target of $27.39, indicating a potential upside of 10.42%. Given DigitalBridge Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe DigitalBridge Group is more favorable than Franklin Resources.

Risk & Volatility

DigitalBridge Group has a beta of 1.91, suggesting that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Resources has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Franklin Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 24.1% of Franklin Resources shares are owned by 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and Franklin Resources’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DigitalBridge Group	$821.38 million	3.49	$185.28 million	$0.49	35.78
Franklin Resources	$7.87 billion	1.66	$882.80 million	$1.90	13.06

Franklin Resources has higher revenue and earnings than DigitalBridge Group. Franklin Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DigitalBridge Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

DigitalBridge Group beats Franklin Resources on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DigitalBridge Group

DigitalBridge is an infrastructure investment firm specializing in digital infrastructure assets. They provide services to institutional investors. They primarily invest in data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, small cells, and edge infrastructure. DigitalBridge Group, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with additional offices in Los Angles, California, and New York New York.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries. The firm invests in the public equity, fixed income, and alternative markets. Franklin Resources, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in San Mateo, California with an additional office in Calgary, Canada; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Fort Lauderdale, United States; Hyderabad, India; London, United Kingdom; Rancho Cordova, United states; Shanghai, China; Singapore; Stamford, United States; and Vienna, Austria.