Critical Comparison: DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) versus PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT)

DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) and PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.2% of PJT Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of PJT Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and PJT Partners”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DigitalBridge Group	$1.50 billion	1.42	$185.28 million	$0.73	16.77
PJT Partners	$1.34 billion	2.89	$145.68 million	$3.94	41.60

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

Risk and Volatility

DigitalBridge Group has a beta of 1.89, suggesting that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PJT Partners has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. PJT Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. DigitalBridge Group pays out 5.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PJT Partners pays out 25.4% 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.

Profitability

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and PJT Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DigitalBridge Group	21.42%	3.58%	1.72%
PJT Partners	8.03%	18.79%	11.24%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for DigitalBridge Group and PJT Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DigitalBridge Group	0	1	6	1	3.00
PJT Partners	1	3	1	0	2.00

DigitalBridge Group presently has a consensus target price of $17.88, indicating a potential upside of 45.98%. PJT Partners has a consensus target price of $134.80, indicating a potential downside of 17.76%. Given DigitalBridge Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe DigitalBridge Group is more favorable than PJT Partners.

Summary

DigitalBridge Group beats PJT Partners on 10 of the 17 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 PJT Partners

PJT Partners Inc., an investment bank, provides various strategic and capital markets advisory, restructuring and special situations, and shareholder advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. It offers advisory services to clients on various transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), spin-offs, activism defense, contested M&A, joint ventures, minority investments, and divestitures. The company also advises private and public company boards and management teams on strategies for building productive investor relationships with a focus on shareholder engagement; and strategic investor relations; environmental, social, and governance matters; and other investor-related matters. In addition, it provides advisory services related to debt and acquisition financings; structured product offerings; public equity raises, including initial public offering and SPAC offerings; and private capital raises for early and later stage companies, as well as other capital structure related matters. Further, the company offers advisory services in financial restructurings and reorganizations; liability management; distressed mergers and acquisitions; and to management teams, corporate boards, sponsors and creditors. Additionally, it provides private fund advisory and fundraising services for a range of investment strategies; and advisory services to general and partners on liquidity and other structured solutions. The company was formerly known as Blackstone Advisory Inc. and changed its name to PJT Partners Inc. in March 2015. PJT Partners Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.