Comparing The Korea Fund (NYSE:KF) & Goldman Sachs BDC (NYSE:GSBD)

Goldman Sachs BDC (NYSE:GSBD) and The Korea Fund (NYSE:KF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Dividends

Goldman Sachs BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.6%. The Korea Fund pays an annual dividend of $3.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.3%. Goldman Sachs BDC pays out 216.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Risk and Volatility

Goldman Sachs BDC has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Korea Fund has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.9% of Goldman Sachs BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.1% of The Korea Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Goldman Sachs BDC shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 59.5% of The Korea Fund shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Goldman Sachs BDC and The Korea Fund’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Goldman Sachs BDC	$357.45 million	4.37	$55.00 million	$0.83	17.18
The Korea Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Goldman Sachs BDC has higher revenue and earnings than The Korea Fund.

Profitability

This table compares Goldman Sachs BDC and The Korea Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Goldman Sachs BDC	21.16%	14.98%	6.41%
The Korea Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Goldman Sachs BDC and The Korea Fund, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Goldman Sachs BDC	0	4	0	0	2.00
The Korea Fund	0	0	0	0	N/A

Goldman Sachs BDC presently has a consensus price target of $15.67, suggesting a potential upside of 9.86%. Given Goldman Sachs BDC’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Goldman Sachs BDC is more favorable than The Korea Fund.

Summary

Goldman Sachs BDC beats The Korea Fund on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Goldman Sachs BDC

Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. is a business development company specializing in middle market and mezzanine investment in private companies. It seeks to make capital appreciation through direct originations of secured debt, senior secured debt, junior secured debt, including first lien, first lien/last-out unitranche and second lien debt, unsecured debt, including mezzanine debt and, to a lesser extent, investments in equities. The fund primarily invests in United States. It seeks to invest between $10 million and $75 million in companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $75 million annually.

About The Korea Fund

The Korea Fund, Inc. is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Korea. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in growth stocks of companies. It employs fundamental analysis with a bottom-up stock picking approach, focusing on such factors as price-to-earnings ratios, dividend yields, and earnings-per-share growth to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index. It uses 'Grassroots Research' to make its investments. The Korea Fund, Inc. was formed on August 29, 1984 and is domiciled in the United States.