VPC Specialty Lending Investments (VSL) Competitors

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (LON:AUSC) and VPC Specialty Lending Investments (LON:VSL) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AUSC or VSL?

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust has higher revenue and earnings than VPC Specialty Lending Investments. VPC Specialty Lending Investments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth 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
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust	£54.96M	6.37	£49.86M	£73.87	7.02
VPC Specialty Lending Investments	-£24.66M	-1.67	-£31.27M	-£11.24	-1.32

Does the media prefer AUSC or VSL?

In the previous week, abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust's average media sentiment score of 0.00 equaled VPC Specialty Lending Investments'average media sentiment score.

Company	Overall Sentiment
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust	Neutral
VPC Specialty Lending Investments	Neutral

Is AUSC or VSL a better dividend stock?

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 11 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. VPC Specialty Lending Investments pays an annual dividend of GBX 8 per share and has a dividend yield of 54.1%. abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust pays out 14.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. VPC Specialty Lending Investments pays out -71.2% 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. VPC Specialty Lending Investments is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in AUSC or VSL?

58.0% of abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.6% of VPC Specialty Lending Investments shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.4% of VPC Specialty Lending Investments shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AUSC or VSL?

VPC Specialty Lending Investments received 111 more outperform votes than abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust when rated by MarketBeat users.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust	N/A	N/A
VPC Specialty Lending Investments	Outperform Votes 111 61.33%	Underperform Votes 70 38.67%

Which has more volatility & risk, AUSC or VSL?

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VPC Specialty Lending Investments has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AUSC or VSL more profitable?

VPC Specialty Lending Investments has a net margin of 126.83% compared to abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust's net margin of 90.72%. abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust's return on equity of 13.68% beat VPC Specialty Lending Investments' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust	90.72%	13.68%	-4.68%
VPC Specialty Lending Investments	126.83%	-15.02%	-3.93%

Summary

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust beats VPC Specialty Lending Investments on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.