The Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB) Competitors

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) and The Gabelli Equity Trust (NYSE:GAB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate HTGC or GAB?

Hercules Capital presently has a consensus price target of $18.56, indicating a potential downside of 4.93%. Given The Gabelli Equity Trust's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Hercules Capital is more favorable than The Gabelli Equity Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hercules Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
The Gabelli Equity Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Is HTGC or GAB a better dividend stock?

Hercules Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. The Gabelli Equity Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. Hercules Capital pays out 72.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Gabelli Equity Trust has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. The Gabelli Equity Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of HTGC or GAB?

19.7% of Hercules Capital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.2% of The Gabelli Equity Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Hercules Capital shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of The Gabelli Equity Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer HTGC or GAB?

In the previous week, Hercules Capital had 12 more articles in the media than The Gabelli Equity Trust. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Hercules Capital and 1 mentions for The Gabelli Equity Trust. The Gabelli Equity Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Hercules Capital's score of -1.00 indicating that Hercules Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Hercules Capital	Positive
The Gabelli Equity Trust	Negative

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HTGC or GAB?

Hercules Capital received 306 more outperform votes than The Gabelli Equity Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.22% of users gave Hercules Capital an outperform vote while only 63.82% of users gave The Gabelli Equity Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hercules Capital	Outperform Votes 463 64.22%	Underperform Votes 258 35.78%
The Gabelli Equity Trust	Outperform Votes 157 63.82%	Underperform Votes 89 36.18%

Which has more risk and volatility, HTGC or GAB?

Hercules Capital has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Gabelli Equity Trust has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, HTGC or GAB?

Hercules Capital has higher revenue and earnings than The Gabelli Equity Trust.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hercules Capital	$460.67M	6.87	$337.48M	$2.20	8.88
The Gabelli Equity Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Is HTGC or GAB more profitable?

Hercules Capital has a net margin of 69.98% compared to Hercules Capital's net margin of 0.00%. The Gabelli Equity Trust's return on equity of 18.35% beat Hercules Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hercules Capital	69.98%	18.35%	9.29%
The Gabelli Equity Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Hercules Capital beats The Gabelli Equity Trust on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.