Reviewing Silvercrest Asset Management Group (NASDAQ:SAMG) and Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC)

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) and Silvercrest Asset Management Group (NASDAQ:SAMG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Dividends

Orchid Island Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 25.1%. Silvercrest Asset Management Group pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Orchid Island Capital pays out 81.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Silvercrest Asset Management Group pays out 763.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Orchid Island Capital has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Silvercrest Asset Management Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Orchid Island Capital is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

32.7% of Orchid Island Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Silvercrest Asset Management Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Orchid Island Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of Silvercrest Asset Management Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Orchid Island Capital and Silvercrest Asset Management Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orchid Island Capital	$414.00 million	2.30	$159.03 million	$1.48	3.23
Silvercrest Asset Management Group	$125.32 million	0.99	$4.89 million	$0.11	95.09

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Orchid Island Capital and Silvercrest Asset Management Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orchid Island Capital	1	2	0	0	1.67
Silvercrest Asset Management Group	1	1	0	0	1.50

Orchid Island Capital currently has a consensus price target of $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 57.04%. Given Orchid Island Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Orchid Island Capital is more favorable than Silvercrest Asset Management Group.

Volatility & Risk

Orchid Island Capital has a beta of 1.6, meaning that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Silvercrest Asset Management Group has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Orchid Island Capital and Silvercrest Asset Management Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orchid Island Capital	N/A	11.87%	1.35%
Silvercrest Asset Management Group	0.72%	8.71%	4.91%

Summary

Orchid Island Capital beats Silvercrest Asset Management Group on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orchid Island Capital

Orchid Island Capital, Inc., a specialty finance company, invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the United States. The company’s RMBS is backed by single-family residential mortgage loans, referred as Agency RMBS. Its portfolio includes traditional pass-through Agency RMBS, such as mortgage pass through certificates and collateralized mortgage obligations; and structured Agency RMBS comprising interest only securities, inverse interest only securities, and principal only securities. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for the United States federal income tax purposes. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to stockholders, if it annually distributes dividends equal to at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. Orchid Island Capital, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Vero Beach, Florida.

About Silvercrest Asset Management Group

Silvercrest Asset Management Group Inc., a wealth management firm, provides financial advisory and related family office services in the United States. The company serves ultra-high net worth individuals and families, as well as their trusts; endowments; foundations; and other institutional investors. It also manages funds of funds and other investment funds. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in New York, New York.