Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund (EMD) Competitors

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT) and Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund (NYSE:EMD) are both small-cap asset management industry companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, profitability and risk.

Which has more risk and volatility, PFLT or EMD?

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to PFLT or EMD?

In the previous week, PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had 6 more articles in the media than Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for PennantPark Floating Rate Capital and 1 mentions for Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund. Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund's average media sentiment score of 1.89 beat PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's score of 0.43 indicating that Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
PennantPark Floating Rate Capital	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is PFLT or EMD more profitable?

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a net margin of 28.31% compared to Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund's net margin of 0.00%. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's return on equity of 10.04% beat Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PennantPark Floating Rate Capital	28.31%	10.04%	4.24%
Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, PFLT or EMD?

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PennantPark Floating Rate Capital	$89.89M	9.44	$91.84M	$0.84	10.18
Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund	$81.59M	3.57	N/A	N/A	N/A

Is PFLT or EMD a better dividend stock?

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.4%. Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.7%. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital pays out 146.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do analysts prefer PFLT or EMD?

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital currently has a consensus target price of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.81%. Given PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe PennantPark Floating Rate Capital is more favorable than Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PennantPark Floating Rate Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do insiders and institutionals believe in PFLT or EMD?

19.8% of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.0% of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital beats Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.