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 analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, valuation and institutional ownership.

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

64.6% of Runway Growth Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Runway Growth Finance shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer MSDL or RWAY?

In the previous week, Runway Growth Finance had 4 more articles in the media than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Runway Growth Finance and 2 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. Runway Growth Finance's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's score of 0.73 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Runway Growth Finance	4 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 & volatility, MSDL or RWAY?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Runway Growth Finance has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, 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	3.75	$215.56M	$1.93	9.31
Runway Growth Finance	$144.63M	2.66	$73.61M	$1.90	5.60

Do analysts recommend MSDL or RWAY?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund presently has a consensus target price of $19.70, suggesting a potential upside of 9.63%. Runway Growth Finance has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.38%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly 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

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%

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 11.1%. Runway Growth Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.4%. 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.

Summary

Runway Growth Finance beats Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.