Virtus Investment Partners (VRTS) Competitors

Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) and Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, community ranking, profitability, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Does the media prefer MAIN or VRTS?

In the previous week, Main Street Capital had 12 more articles in the media than Virtus Investment Partners. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Main Street Capital and 7 mentions for Virtus Investment Partners. Virtus Investment Partners' average media sentiment score of 0.71 beat Main Street Capital's score of 0.33 indicating that Virtus Investment Partners is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Main Street Capital	3 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Virtus Investment Partners	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer MAIN or VRTS?

Main Street Capital presently has a consensus price target of $52.80, suggesting a potential downside of 7.04%. Virtus Investment Partners has a consensus price target of $167.75, suggesting a potential downside of 5.14%. Given Virtus Investment Partners' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Virtus Investment Partners is more favorable than Main Street Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Main Street Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Virtus Investment Partners	2 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75

Is MAIN or VRTS more profitable?

Main Street Capital has a net margin of 89.25% compared to Virtus Investment Partners' net margin of 13.42%. Virtus Investment Partners' return on equity of 21.56% beat Main Street Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Main Street Capital	89.25%	13.83%	7.37%
Virtus Investment Partners	13.42%	21.56%	5.27%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MAIN or VRTS?

Main Street Capital received 69 more outperform votes than Virtus Investment Partners when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 56.40% of users gave Main Street Capital an outperform vote while only 52.87% of users gave Virtus Investment Partners an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Main Street Capital	Outperform Votes 401 56.40%	Underperform Votes 310 43.60%
Virtus Investment Partners	Outperform Votes 332 52.87%	Underperform Votes 296 47.13%

Is MAIN or VRTS a better dividend stock?

Main Street Capital pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Virtus Investment Partners pays an annual dividend of $9.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Main Street Capital pays out 50.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Virtus Investment Partners pays out 53.4% 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. Main Street Capital has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Virtus Investment Partners has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Main Street Capital is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility and risk, MAIN or VRTS?

Main Street Capital has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Virtus Investment Partners has a beta of 1.47, suggesting that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, MAIN or VRTS?

Main Street Capital has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Virtus Investment Partners. Main Street Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Virtus Investment Partners, 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
Main Street Capital	$607.66M	8.32	$428.45M	$5.89	9.64
Virtus Investment Partners	$898.60M	1.36	$121.75M	$16.85	10.49

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MAIN or VRTS?

20.3% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.5% of Virtus Investment Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Virtus Investment Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Main Street Capital and Virtus Investment Partners tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.