Highest Performances (NASDAQ:HPH) versus Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Critical Contrast

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) and Highest Performances (NASDAQ:HPH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Moelis & Company and Highest Performances, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Moelis & Company	2	5	0	0	1.71
Highest Performances	0	0	0	0	N/A

Moelis & Company presently has a consensus price target of $58.33, suggesting a potential downside of 15.76%. Given Moelis & Company’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Moelis & Company is more favorable than Highest Performances.

Profitability

This table compares Moelis & Company and Highest Performances’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Moelis & Company	1.38%	4.38%	1.53%
Highest Performances	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Moelis & Company has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highest Performances has a beta of -0.31, indicating that its share price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.5% of Moelis & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Moelis & Company shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 87.6% of Highest Performances shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Moelis & Company and Highest Performances”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Moelis & Company	$969.13 million	5.34	-$24.70 million	($0.19)	-364.47
Highest Performances	$15.78 million	9.28	-$6.01 million	N/A	N/A

Highest Performances has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Moelis & Company.

Summary

Moelis & Company beats Highest Performances on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory. The company offers its services to public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs, governments, and sovereign wealth funds. It operates in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Highest Performances

Highest Performances Holdings Inc. engages in the provision of financial technology services in China. The company distributes publicly raised fund and privately raised securities investment fund products through online and offline. It also offers insurance consulting, trust consulting, asset management, wealth management, and other ancillary services. The company was formerly known as Puyi Inc. and changed its name to Highest Performances Holdings Inc. in March 2024. Highest Performances Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, China.