Stellus Capital Investment (SCM) Competitors

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) and Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Does the media favor OCSL or SCM?

In the previous week, Oaktree Specialty Lending and Oaktree Specialty Lending both had 4 articles in the media. Oaktree Specialty Lending's average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat Stellus Capital Investment's score of 0.43 indicating that Oaktree Specialty Lending is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Oaktree Specialty Lending	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Stellus Capital Investment	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is OCSL or SCM more profitable?

Stellus Capital Investment has a net margin of 45.39% compared to Oaktree Specialty Lending's net margin of 14.75%. Stellus Capital Investment's return on equity of 13.49% beat Oaktree Specialty Lending's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oaktree Specialty Lending	14.75%	12.07%	5.57%
Stellus Capital Investment	45.39%	13.49%	4.88%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in OCSL or SCM?

Oaktree Specialty Lending received 180 more outperform votes than Stellus Capital Investment when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.02% of users gave Oaktree Specialty Lending an outperform vote while only 58.69% of users gave Stellus Capital Investment an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Oaktree Specialty Lending	Outperform Votes 484 59.02%	Underperform Votes 336 40.98%
Stellus Capital Investment	Outperform Votes 304 58.69%	Underperform Votes 214 41.31%

Which has more volatility and risk, OCSL or SCM?

Oaktree Specialty Lending has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stellus Capital Investment has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in OCSL or SCM?

36.8% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.2% of Stellus Capital Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Stellus Capital Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better valuation & earnings, OCSL or SCM?

Oaktree Specialty Lending has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Stellus Capital Investment. Stellus Capital Investment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oaktree Specialty Lending, 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
Oaktree Specialty Lending	-$1.54M	-812.60	$57.90M	$0.13	109.42
Stellus Capital Investment	$51.21M	7.44	$17.53M	$1.44	9.31

Do analysts rate OCSL or SCM?

Oaktree Specialty Lending currently has a consensus price target of $15.83, suggesting a potential upside of 11.31%. Stellus Capital Investment has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.99%. Given Oaktree Specialty Lending's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Oaktree Specialty Lending is more favorable than Stellus Capital Investment.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oaktree Specialty Lending	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Stellus Capital Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is OCSL or SCM a better dividend stock?

Oaktree Specialty Lending pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. Stellus Capital Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.9%. Oaktree Specialty Lending pays out 1,230.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stellus Capital Investment pays out 111.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stellus Capital Investment is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Stellus Capital Investment beats Oaktree Specialty Lending on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.