Stellus Capital Investment (SCM) Competitors

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) and Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate PSEC or SCM?

Prospect Capital presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, suggesting a potential downside of 11.50%. Stellus Capital Investment has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential downside of 12.81%. Given Prospect Capital's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Prospect Capital is more favorable than Stellus Capital Investment.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prospect Capital	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.00
Stellus Capital Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in PSEC or SCM?

9.1% of Prospect Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.2% of Stellus Capital Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.3% of Prospect Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Stellus Capital Investment shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is PSEC or SCM more profitable?

Stellus Capital Investment has a net margin of 36.35% compared to Prospect Capital's net margin of -36.07%. Prospect Capital's return on equity of 12.43% beat Stellus Capital Investment's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prospect Capital	-36.07%	12.43%	5.83%
Stellus Capital Investment	36.35%	11.93%	4.46%

Does the media refer more to PSEC or SCM?

In the previous week, Stellus Capital Investment had 1 more articles in the media than Prospect Capital. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Stellus Capital Investment and 1 mentions for Prospect Capital. Stellus Capital Investment's average media sentiment score of 1.04 beat Prospect Capital's score of 0.00 indicating that Stellus Capital Investment is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Prospect Capital	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Stellus Capital Investment	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, PSEC or SCM?

Prospect Capital has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stellus Capital Investment has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is PSEC or SCM a better dividend stock?

Prospect Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.9%. Stellus Capital Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.7%. Prospect Capital pays out -62.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stellus Capital Investment pays out 111.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Prospect Capital is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, PSEC or SCM?

Prospect Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Stellus Capital Investment. Prospect Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stellus Capital Investment, 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
Prospect Capital	$861.66M	1.75	$262.83M	-$0.86	-3.94
Stellus Capital Investment	$104.74M	4.05	$45.85M	$1.44	10.35

Summary

Stellus Capital Investment beats Prospect Capital on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.