KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR – Get Free Report) and DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
76.3% of KKR & Co. Inc. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.3% of KKR & Co. Inc. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for KKR & Co. Inc. and DigitalBridge Group, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| KKR & Co. Inc. | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 2.92 |
| DigitalBridge Group | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3.20 |
Dividends
KKR & Co. Inc. pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. KKR & Co. Inc. pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. DigitalBridge Group pays out 2.6% 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. KKR & Co. Inc. has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. KKR & Co. Inc. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares KKR & Co. Inc. and DigitalBridge Group’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| KKR & Co. Inc. | $14.50 billion | 5.80 | $3.73 billion | $4.46 | 21.30 |
| DigitalBridge Group | $1.50 billion | 1.60 | $185.28 million | $1.55 | 9.48 |
KKR & Co. Inc. has higher revenue and earnings than DigitalBridge Group. DigitalBridge Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KKR & Co. Inc., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares KKR & Co. Inc. and DigitalBridge Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| KKR & Co. Inc. | 19.38% | 4.45% | 0.89% |
| DigitalBridge Group | 26.64% | 2.91% | 0.99% |
Risk and Volatility
KKR & Co. Inc. has a beta of 1.62, meaning that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DigitalBridge Group has a beta of 1.95, meaning that its stock price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
KKR & Co. Inc. beats DigitalBridge Group on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About KKR & Co. Inc.
KKR & Co. Inc. is a private equity and real estate investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. It specializes in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, credit special situations, growth equity, mature, mezzanine, distressed, turnaround, lower middle market and middle market investments. The firm considers investments in all industries with a focus on software, security, semiconductors, consumer electronics, internet of things (iot), internet, information services, information technology infrastructure, financial technology, network and cyber security architecture, engineering and operations, content, technology and hardware, energy and infrastructure, real estate, services industry with a focus on business services, intelligence, industry-leading franchises and companies in natural resource, containers and packaging, agriculture, airports, ports, forestry, electric utilities, textiles, apparel and luxury goods, household durables, digital media, insurance, brokerage houses, non-durable goods distribution, supermarket retailing, grocery stores, food, beverage, and tobacco, hospitals, entertainment venues and production companies, publishing, printing services, capital goods, financial services, specialized finance, pipelines, and renewable energy. In energy and infrastructure, it focuses on the upstream oil and gas and equipment, minerals and royalties and services verticals. In real estate, the firm seeks to invest in private and public real estate securities including property-level equity, debt and special situations transactions and businesses with significant real estate holdings, and oil and natural gas properties. The firm also invests in asset services sector that encompasses a broad array of B2B, B2C and B2G services verticals including asset-based, transport, logistics, leisure/hospitality, resource and utility support, infra-like, mission-critical, and environmental services. Within Americas, the firm prefers to invest in consumer products; chemicals, metals and mining; energy and natural resources; financial services; healthcare; industrials; media and communications; retail; and technology. Within Europe, the firm invests in consumer and retail; energy; financial services; health care; industrials and chemicals; media and digital; and telecom and technologies. Within Asia, it invests in consumer products; energy and resources; financial services; healthcare; industrials; logistics; media and telecom; retail; real estate; and technology. It also seeks to make impact investments focused on identifying and investing behind businesses with positive social or environmental impact. The firm seeks to invest in mid to high-end residential developments, but can invest in other projects throughout Mainland China through outright ownership, joint ventures, and merger. It invests globally with a focus on Australia, emerging and developed Asia, Middle East and Africa, Nordic, Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Caribbean, Mexico, South America, North America, Brazil, Latin America, Korea with a focus on South Korea, and United States of America. In the United States and Europe, the firm focuses on buyouts of large, publicly traded companies. It seeks to invest $30 million to $717 million in companies with enterprise values between $500 million to $2389 million. The firm prefers to invest in a range of debt and public equity investing and may co-invest. It seeks a board seat in its portfolio companies and a controlling ownership of a company or a strategic minority positions. The firm may acquire majority and minority equity interests, particularly when making private equity investments in Asia or sponsoring investments as part of a large investor consortium. The firm typically holds its investment for a period of five to seven years and more and exits through initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and sales to strategic buyers. KKR & Co. Inc. was founded in 1976 and is based in New York, New York with additional offices across North America, Europe, Australia, Sweden and Asia.
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.
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