Reviewing Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) & Neon Bloom (OTCMKTS:NBCO)

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) and Neon Bloom (OTCMKTS:NBCO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Oaktree Specialty Lending has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Neon Bloom has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Oaktree Specialty Lending and Neon Bloom”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oaktree Specialty Lending	$316.80 million	3.53	$33.92 million	$0.36	35.22
Neon Bloom	$4.61 million	0.34	N/A	N/A	N/A

Oaktree Specialty Lending has higher revenue and earnings than Neon Bloom.

Profitability

This table compares Oaktree Specialty Lending and Neon Bloom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oaktree Specialty Lending	10.58%	9.75%	4.70%
Neon Bloom	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

36.8% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are held by 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 Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Oaktree Specialty Lending and Neon Bloom, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oaktree Specialty Lending	0	6	0	0	2.00
Neon Bloom	0	0	0	0	0.00

Oaktree Specialty Lending presently has a consensus target price of $12.17, suggesting a potential downside of 4.05%. Given Oaktree Specialty Lending’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Oaktree Specialty Lending is more favorable than Neon Bloom.

Summary

Oaktree Specialty Lending beats Neon Bloom on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies. It seeks to invest in education services, business services, retail and consumer, healthcare, manufacturing, food and restaurants, construction and engineering. The firm also seeks investment in media, advertising sectors, software, IT services, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, real estate management and development, chemicals, machinery, and internet and direct marketing retail sectors. It invests between $5 million to $75 million principally in the form of one-stop, first lien, and second lien debt investments, which may include an equity co-investment component in companies. The firm invest in companies having enterprise value between $20 million and $150 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million. The fund has a hold size of up to $75 million and may underwrite transactions up to $100 million. It primarily invests in North America. The fund seeks to be a lead investor in its portfolio companies.

About Neon Bloom

Neon Bloom, Inc. is a principal investment firm specializing in acquisitions. The firm primarily invests in innovative agriculture and ancillary technology products and services across the globe. Neon Bloom, Inc was founded in 2015 and is based in New York, New York.