Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) versus CI Financial (NYSE:CIXXF) Financial Review

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) and CI Financial (NYSE:CIXXF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.1% of Apollo Global Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.5% of Apollo Global Management shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Apollo Global Management and CI Financial’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apollo Global Management	$32.64 billion	2.06	$5.05 billion	$9.03	13.11
CI Financial	$2.03 billion	0.80	$3.72 million	($0.88)	-12.20

Apollo Global Management has higher revenue and earnings than CI Financial. CI Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apollo Global Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Apollo Global Management has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CI Financial has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Apollo Global Management pays an annual dividend of $1.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. CI Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Apollo Global Management pays out 20.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CI Financial pays out -65.9% 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. CI Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Apollo Global Management and CI Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apollo Global Management	0	4	10	0	2.71
CI Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00

Apollo Global Management presently has a consensus target price of $115.62, suggesting a potential downside of 1.74%. Given Apollo Global Management’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Apollo Global Management is more favorable than CI Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Apollo Global Management and CI Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apollo Global Management	16.27%	19.12%	1.31%
CI Financial	-6.49%	46.20%	5.32%

Summary

Apollo Global Management beats CI Financial on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Apollo Global Management

Apollo Global Management, Inc. is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity and real estate markets. The firm's private equity investments include traditional buyouts, recapitalization, distressed buyouts and debt investments in real estate, corporate partner buyouts, distressed asset, corporate carve-outs, middle market, growth capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions. The firm provides its services to endowment and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors. It manages client focused portfolios. The firm launches and manages hedge funds for its clients. It also manages real estate funds and private equity funds for its clients. The firm invests in the fixed income and alternative investment markets across the globe. Its fixed income investments include income-oriented senior loans, bonds, collateralized loan obligations, structured credit, opportunistic credit, non-performing loans, distressed debt, mezzanine debt, and value oriented fixed income securities. The firm seeks to invest in chemicals, commodities, consumer and retail, oil and gas, metals, mining, agriculture, commodities, distribution and transportation, financial and business services, manufacturing and industrial, media distribution, cable, entertainment and leisure, telecom, technology, natural resources, energy, packaging and materials, and satellite and wireless industries. It also focuses on clean energy, sustainable industry, climate solutions, energy transition, industrial decarbonization, sustainable mobility, sustainable resource use, and sustainable real estate. It seeks to invest in companies based in across Africa, North America with a focus on United States, and Europe. The firm also makes investments outside North America, primarily in Western Europe and Asia. It employs a combination of contrarian, value, and distressed strategies to make its investments. The firm seeks to make investments in the range of $10 million and $1500 million. The firm seeks to invest in companies with Enterprise value between $750 million to $2500 million. The firm conducts an in-house research to create its investment portfolio. It seeks to acquire minority and majority positions in its portfolio companies. Apollo Global Management, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in New York, New York with additional offices in North America, Asia, India and Europe.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm manages separate client focused equity, fixed income, and alternative investments portfolios. It also manages mutual funds, hedge funds, and fund of funds for its clients through its subsidiaries. The firm was founded in 1965 and is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in Vancouver, Canada; Calgary, Canada; and Montreal, Canada.