Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) and Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Value Line and Fidus Investment's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Value Line | $40.30 million | 7.32 | $15.66 million | N/A | N/A |
Fidus Investment | $77.11 million | 5.33 | $48.47 million | $1.44 | 11.67 |
Fidus Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Value Line.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
7.4% of Value Line shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.9% of Fidus Investment shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Value Line shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Fidus Investment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Value Line and Fidus Investment, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Value Line | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Fidus Investment | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 |
Fidus Investment has a consensus price target of $15.40, suggesting a potential downside of 8.39%. Given Fidus Investment's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Fidus Investment is more favorable than Value Line.
Profitability
This table compares Value Line and Fidus Investment's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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Value Line | 43.60% | 32.05% | 16.41% |
Fidus Investment | 26.80% | 9.15% | 4.66% |
Volatility & Risk
Value Line has a beta of -0.1, indicating that its share price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidus Investment has a beta of 1.89, indicating that its share price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Value Line pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Fidus Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Fidus Investment pays out 86.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Value Line has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Fidus Investment has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Summary
Fidus Investment beats Value Line on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.