Main Street Capital (MAIN) Competitors

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) and Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and profitability.

Does the media prefer NTRS or MAIN?

In the previous week, Northern Trust had 13 more articles in the media than Main Street Capital. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Northern Trust and 14 mentions for Main Street Capital. Northern Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat Main Street Capital's score of 0.78 indicating that Northern Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northern Trust	22 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Main Street Capital	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, NTRS or MAIN?

Northern Trust has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Main Street Capital has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer NTRS or MAIN?

Northern Trust currently has a consensus target price of $112.85, suggesting a potential upside of 12.23%. Main Street Capital has a consensus target price of $52.25, suggesting a potential downside of 9.07%. Given Northern Trust's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Northern Trust is more favorable than Main Street Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Trust	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.15
Main Street Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NTRS or MAIN?

Main Street Capital received 2 more outperform votes than Northern Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 56.72% of users gave Main Street Capital an outperform vote while only 41.01% of users gave Northern Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Northern Trust	Outperform Votes 399 41.01%	Underperform Votes 574 58.99%
Main Street Capital	Outperform Votes 401 56.72%	Underperform Votes 306 43.28%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, NTRS or MAIN?

Northern Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Main Street Capital. Main Street Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northern Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northern Trust	$8.29B	2.37	$2.03B	$9.78	10.28
Main Street Capital	$601.25M	8.46	$428.45M	$5.84	9.84

Is NTRS or MAIN more profitable?

Main Street Capital has a net margin of 89.25% compared to Northern Trust's net margin of 12.77%. Main Street Capital's return on equity of 13.83% beat Northern Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northern Trust	12.77%	13.74%	1.03%
Main Street Capital	89.25%	13.83%	7.37%

Is NTRS or MAIN a better dividend stock?

Northern Trust pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Main Street Capital pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Northern Trust pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Main Street Capital pays out 51.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NTRS or MAIN?

83.2% of Northern Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.3% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Northern Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by company 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.

Summary

Main Street Capital beats Northern Trust on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.