Runway Growth Finance (RWAY) Competitors

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) and Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, media sentiment and risk.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in MSDL or RWAY?

64.6% of Runway Growth Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Runway Growth Finance shares are owned by 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.

Does the media refer more to MSDL or RWAY?

In the previous week, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had 2 more articles in the media than Runway Growth Finance. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and 6 mentions for Runway Growth Finance. Runway Growth Finance's average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's score of -0.51 indicating that Runway Growth Finance is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Negative
Runway Growth Finance	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MSDL or RWAY?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Runway Growth Finance. Runway Growth Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund, 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
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	$416.08M	3.30	$215.56M	$1.93	8.20
Runway Growth Finance	$144.63M	2.51	$73.61M	$1.90	5.27

Which has more volatility & risk, MSDL or RWAY?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Runway Growth Finance has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MSDL or RWAY a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.6%. Runway Growth Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.2%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays out 103.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Runway Growth Finance pays out 69.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Runway Growth Finance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is MSDL or RWAY more profitable?

Runway Growth Finance has a net margin of 51.03% compared to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's net margin of 42.65%. Runway Growth Finance's return on equity of 11.86% beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	42.65%	11.24%	5.28%
Runway Growth Finance	51.03%	11.86%	5.66%

Do analysts prefer MSDL or RWAY?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund currently has a consensus target price of $18.60, indicating a potential upside of 17.54%. Runway Growth Finance has a consensus target price of $11.20, indicating a potential upside of 11.78%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is more favorable than Runway Growth Finance.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Runway Growth Finance	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Summary

Runway Growth Finance beats Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.