Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) versus Tri Continental (NYSE:TY) Head to Head Analysis

Tri Continental (NYSE:TY) and Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Tri Continental and Raymond James Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tri Continental	0	0	0	0	0.00
Raymond James Financial	0	8	5	0	2.38

Raymond James Financial has a consensus price target of $181.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.10%. Given Raymond James Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Raymond James Financial is more favorable than Tri Continental.

Volatility & Risk

Tri Continental has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Raymond James Financial has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Tri Continental and Raymond James Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tri Continental	N/A	N/A	N/A
Raymond James Financial	13.57%	19.07%	2.64%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.2% of Tri Continental shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.8% of Raymond James Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Tri Continental shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Raymond James Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Tri Continental pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Raymond James Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Raymond James Financial pays out 18.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Raymond James Financial has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Tri Continental and Raymond James Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tri Continental	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Raymond James Financial	$15.91 billion	2.08	$2.13 billion	$11.47	15.01

Raymond James Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Tri Continental.

Summary

Raymond James Financial beats Tri Continental on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tri Continental

Tri-Continental Corporation is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. It primarily invests in the public equity markets of the United States. The fund invests in stocks of companies that operate across diversified sectors. It seeks to invest in stocks of large-cap companies. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against S&P 500 Index. Tri-Continental Corporation was formed in January 1929 and is domiciled in the United States.

About Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial, Inc., a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments. The Private Client Group segment provides securities brokerage services, including the sale of equities, mutual funds, fixed income products, and insurance products to their individual clients; and borrowing and lending of securities to and from other broker-dealers, financial institutions, and other counterparties. The Capital Markets segment offers securities brokerage, trading, and research services to institutions with a focus on sale of the United States and Canadian equities and fixed income products; and manages and participates in underwritings, merger and acquisition services, and public finance activities. The Asset Management segment engages in the operations of Eagle, the Eagle Family of Funds, Cougar, the asset management operations of Raymond James & Associates, trust services of Raymond James Trust, and other fee-based asset management programs. The RJ Bank segment provides corporate loans, SBL, tax-exempt loans, and residential loans. The Other segment engages in private equity activities, including various direct and third party private equity investments; and private equity funds. Raymond James Financial, Inc. was founded in 1962 and is based in St. Petersburg, Florida.