Head to Head Review: Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund (NYSE:PAI) vs. SuRo Capital (NASDAQ:SSSS)

Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund (NYSE:PAI) and SuRo Capital (NASDAQ:SSSS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.0% of Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.0% of SuRo Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of SuRo Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund and SuRo Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund	0	0	0	0	0.00
SuRo Capital	0	0	2	0	3.00

SuRo Capital has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.29%. Given SuRo Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SuRo Capital is more favorable than Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund.

Profitability

This table compares Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund and SuRo Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
SuRo Capital	-801.00%	-7.03%	-4.98%

Risk and Volatility

Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SuRo Capital has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund and SuRo Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SuRo Capital	$6.60 million	18.60	$5.07 million	($1.89)	-2.78

SuRo Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund.

Summary

SuRo Capital beats Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund

Western Asset Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Western Asset Management Company. It is co-managed by Western Asset Management Company Limited. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in investment grade debt, including government securities, bank debt, commercial paper, and cash or cash equivalents. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index and the Barclays U.S. Credit Index. Western Asset Income Fund was formed on March 22, 1973 and is domiciled in the United States.

About SuRo Capital

SuRo Capital Corp. is a business development company. The firm seeks to invest in growth capital, late stage and venture capital-backed private companies. SuRo Capital Corp. was founded in 2010 and is based in San Francisco, California with additional office in New York, New York.