Critical Contrast: Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) and PCM Fund (NYSE:PCM)

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.3% of PCM Fund shares are held by institutional investors. 29.9% of Equus Total Return shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of PCM Fund shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Equus Total Return has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PCM Fund has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Equus Total Return and PCM Fund”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equus Total Return	-$7.91 million	-1.77	$12.95 million	($0.95)	-1.08
PCM Fund	$6.87 million	11.07	N/A	N/A	N/A

Equus Total Return has higher earnings, but lower revenue than PCM Fund.

Profitability

This table compares Equus Total Return and PCM Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equus Total Return	-621.28%	-7.73%	-3.63%
PCM Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

PCM Fund beats Equus Total Return on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equus Total Return

Equus Total Return, Inc. is a business development company (BDC) specializing in leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, corporate partnerships/joint ventures, growth and expansion capital, acquisition financing, roll-up acquisition strategies, operational turnarounds, recapitalizations of existing businesses, special situations, equity and equity-oriented securities issued by privately owned companies, debt securities including subordinate debt, debt convertible into common or preferred stock, or debt combined with warrants and common and preferred stock, and preferred equity financing. It invests in small to mid-sized companies and acts as a lead investor. It invests in technology, telecommunication, financial services, natural resource and industrial manufacturing and services. It invests in companies engaged in the alternative energy, real estate, healthcare, education, e-learning, leisure and entertainment, and foreign investment sector in the United States, China, India, and Europe. It investments include common and preferred stock, debt convertible into common or preferred stock, debt combined with warrants and options, and other rights to acquire common or preferred stock. It seeks to invest in companies between $1 million to $25 million with revenues between $5 million and $150 million with EBITDA between $2 million to $50 million. It seeks to take control and non-control equity positions. Equus Total Return, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas with additional office in Vancouver, Canada.

About PCM Fund

PCM Fund Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. The fund is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. It seeks to invest in fixed income markets. The fund invests primarily in commercial mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental analysis with a focus on top down stock picking approach to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against Barclay’s CMBS Investment Grade Index. PCM Fund Inc was formed on September 2, 1993 and is domiciled in the United States.