Financial Comparison: John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) vs. The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund (NYSE:GCV)

The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund (NYSE:GCV) and John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund and John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund	0	0	0	0	0.00
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	0	0	0	1	4.00

Risk and Volatility

The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

23.4% of The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.6% of John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.4%. John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%.

Profitability

This table compares The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund and John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund and John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

About The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund

The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund Inc. is a closed-ended balanced mutual fund launched by GAMCO Investors, Inc. The fund is managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC. It invests in public equity and fixed income markets. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in convertible securities and other debt and equity securities. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, Barclays Government/Credit Bond Index, and Lipper Convertible Securities Fund Average. It was formerly known as Gabelli Convertible Securities Fund Inc. The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund Inc. was formed on December 19, 1988 and is domiciled in the United States.

About John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It seeks to invest in the stocks of companies operating across the financial services sector. The fund invests in companies across all market capitalizations. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P Composite 1500 Banks Index. The fund was formerly known as John Hancock Bank and Thrift Opportunity Fund. John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund was formed on August 23, 1994 and is domiciled in the United States.