Head to Head Survey: SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) & Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC)

Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC) and SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.1% of Barings Bdc shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of SLR Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Barings Bdc shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of SLR Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Barings Bdc pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. SLR Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.0%. Barings Bdc pays out 110.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SLR Investment pays out 101.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Barings Bdc has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Barings Bdc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Barings Bdc has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLR Investment has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Barings Bdc and SLR Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barings Bdc	0	1	2	0	2.67
SLR Investment	2	2	2	1	2.29

Barings Bdc presently has a consensus target price of $9.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 3.89%. SLR Investment has a consensus target price of $15.9643, suggesting a potential downside of 2.89%. Given Barings Bdc’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Barings Bdc is more favorable than SLR Investment.

Profitability

This table compares Barings Bdc and SLR Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barings Bdc	35.21%	10.74%	4.80%
SLR Investment	39.93%	9.26%	3.73%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Barings Bdc and SLR Investment”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barings Bdc	$286.17 million	3.43	$110.29 million	$0.94	9.90
SLR Investment	$232.43 million	N/A	$95.76 million	$1.61	10.21

Barings Bdc has higher revenue and earnings than SLR Investment. Barings Bdc is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLR Investment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Barings Bdc beats SLR Investment on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barings Bdc

Barings BDC, Inc. is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries. It specializes in mezzanine, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, ESOPs, change of control transactions, acquisition financings, growth financing, and recapitalizations in lower middle market, mature, and later stage companies. It invests in manufacturing and distribution; business services and technology; transportation and logistics; consumer product and services. It invests in United States. It invests in companies with EBITDA of $10 million to $75 million, typically in private equity sponsor backed.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies. The fund invests in aerospace and defense; air freight & logistics; asset management; automotive; banking; beverage, food and tobacco; building products; buildings and real estate; broadcasting and entertainment; cargo transport; commercial services and supplies; communications equipment; chemicals, plastics and rubber; containers, packaging and glass; construction & engineering; diversified/conglomerate manufacturing; consumer Finance; distributors; diversified/conglomerate services; diversified financial services; diversified real estate activities; food products; Footwear; Education Services; diversified telecommunications services; electronics; farming and agriculture; finance; grocery; health care equipment and supplies; health care facilities; education and childcare; home and office furnishing, durable consumer products; hotels, motels, inns and gaming; insurance; restaurants, leisure, amusement, and entertainment; leisure equipment tolls and services, media, multiline retail, multi sector holdings; paper and forest products; personal products; professional services, research and consulting services, software; specialty retail; textiles apparel and luxury goods, thrifts and mortgage finance, trading companies and distributors, utilities, and wireless telecommunication services; industrial conglomerates; internet software and services, IT services, machinery; mining, steel, iron, and non-precious metals; oil and gas; personal, food and miscellaneous services; printing and publishing; retail stores; telecommunications; textiles and leather; and utilities. It also invests in life sciences with focus on specialty pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, health Care Providers and services; health Care technology, enabling technologies and tools. The fund primarily invests in United States. The fund’s investments generally range between $5 million and $100 million. The fund invests in companies with revenues between $50 million and $1 billion and EBITDA between $15 million and $100 million. It invests in the form of senior secured loans, mezzanine loans, and equity securities. It may also seek investments in thinly traded public companies and also make secondary investments. The fund makes non-control equity investments. It primarily exits within three years of the initial capital commitment.