Fidus Investment (FDUS) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FDUS or PSEC?

Prospect Capital received 30 more outperform votes than Fidus Investment when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.97% of users gave Fidus Investment an outperform vote while only 51.45% of users gave Prospect Capital an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Fidus Investment	Outperform Votes 289 60.97%	Underperform Votes 185 39.03%
Prospect Capital	Outperform Votes 319 51.45%	Underperform Votes 301 48.55%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FDUS or PSEC?

28.1% of Fidus Investment shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.1% of Prospect Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Fidus Investment shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.3% of Prospect Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is FDUS or PSEC more profitable?

Fidus Investment has a net margin of 60.09% compared to Prospect Capital's net margin of 1.18%. Prospect Capital's return on equity of 12.31% beat Fidus Investment's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fidus Investment	60.09%	12.11%	6.75%
Prospect Capital	1.18%	12.31%	5.79%

Is FDUS or PSEC a better dividend stock?

Fidus Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Prospect Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.9%. Fidus Investment pays out 73.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prospect Capital pays out -62.8% 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. Prospect Capital is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, FDUS or PSEC?

Fidus Investment has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prospect Capital has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to FDUS or PSEC?

In the previous week, Fidus Investment and Fidus Investment both had 9 articles in the media. Fidus Investment's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Prospect Capital's score of 0.70 indicating that Fidus Investment is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fidus Investment	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Prospect Capital	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, FDUS or PSEC?

Prospect Capital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Fidus Investment. Prospect Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fidus 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
Fidus Investment	$92.70M	7.64	$77.13M	$2.34	8.71
Prospect Capital	-$182.78M	-8.85	$262.83M	-$0.86	-4.22

Do analysts rate FDUS or PSEC?

Fidus Investment currently has a consensus target price of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.04%. Prospect Capital has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential downside of 17.36%. Given Fidus Investment's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Fidus Investment is more favorable than Prospect Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fidus Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33
Prospect Capital	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.00

Summary

Fidus Investment beats Prospect Capital on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.