Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (AEF) Competitors

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) and Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (NYSE:AEF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Which has more risk and volatility, BCSF or AEF?

Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BCSF or AEF a better dividend stock?

Bain Capital Specialty Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.1%. Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.1%. Bain Capital Specialty Finance pays out 101.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Bain Capital Specialty Finance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer BCSF or AEF?

In the previous week, Bain Capital Specialty Finance and Bain Capital Specialty Finance both had 2 articles in the media. Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Bain Capital Specialty Finance's score of 0.66 indicating that Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Bain Capital Specialty Finance	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, BCSF or AEF?

Bain Capital Specialty Finance has higher revenue and earnings than Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bain Capital Specialty Finance	$125.44M	7.79	$119.42M	$1.66	9.08
Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund	$20.73M	12.10	N/A	N/A	N/A

Do analysts rate BCSF or AEF?

Bain Capital Specialty Finance presently has a consensus target price of $16.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.49%. Given Bain Capital Specialty Finance's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Bain Capital Specialty Finance is more favorable than Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bain Capital Specialty Finance	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BCSF or AEF?

73.9% of Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Bain Capital Specialty Finance shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is BCSF or AEF more profitable?

Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a net margin of 37.90% compared to Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund's net margin of 0.00%. Bain Capital Specialty Finance's return on equity of 11.41% beat Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bain Capital Specialty Finance	37.90%	11.41%	4.92%
Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Bain Capital Specialty Finance beats Abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.