Head-To-Head Survey: WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) versus SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC)

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) and WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.3% of SLR Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of WisdomTree shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.8% of SLR Investment shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.1% of WisdomTree shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SLR Investment and WisdomTree”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SLR Investment	$218.54 million	3.10	$92.54 million	$1.35	9.19
WisdomTree	$609.68 million	5.96	$109.13 million	$0.52	46.10

WisdomTree has higher revenue and earnings than SLR Investment. SLR Investment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WisdomTree, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for SLR Investment and WisdomTree, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SLR Investment	2	4	2	0	2.00
WisdomTree	0	4	3	0	2.43

SLR Investment currently has a consensus price target of $14.10, suggesting a potential upside of 13.62%. WisdomTree has a consensus price target of $23.66, suggesting a potential downside of 1.31%. Given SLR Investment’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SLR Investment is more favorable than WisdomTree.

Risk & Volatility

SLR Investment has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WisdomTree has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

SLR Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.0%. WisdomTree pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. SLR Investment pays out 91.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. WisdomTree pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares SLR Investment and WisdomTree’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SLR Investment	35.20%	7.96%	3.09%
WisdomTree	13.27%	39.12%	10.29%

Summary

WisdomTree beats SLR Investment on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies. The fund invests in aerospace and defense; air freight & logistics; asset management; automotive; banking; beverage, food and tobacco; building products; buildings and real estate; broadcasting and entertainment; cargo transport; commercial services and supplies; communications equipment; chemicals, plastics and rubber; containers, packaging and glass; construction & engineering; diversified/conglomerate manufacturing; consumer Finance; distributors; diversified/conglomerate services; diversified financial services; diversified real estate activities; food products; Footwear; Education Services; diversified telecommunications services; electronics; farming and agriculture; finance; grocery; health care equipment and supplies; health care facilities; education and childcare; home and office furnishing, durable consumer products; hotels, motels, inns and gaming; insurance; restaurants, leisure, amusement, and entertainment; leisure equipment tolls and services, media, multiline retail, multi sector holdings; paper and forest products; personal products; professional services, research and consulting services, software; specialty retail; textiles apparel and luxury goods, thrifts and mortgage finance, trading companies and distributors, utilities, and wireless telecommunication services; industrial conglomerates; internet software and services, IT services, machinery; mining, steel, iron, and non-precious metals; oil and gas; personal, food and miscellaneous services; printing and publishing; retail stores; telecommunications; textiles and leather; and utilities. It also invests in life sciences with focus on specialty pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, health Care Providers and services; health Care technology, enabling technologies and tools. The fund primarily invests in United States. The fund’s investments generally range between $5 million and $100 million. The fund invests in companies with revenues between $50 million and $1 billion and EBITDA between $15 million and $100 million. It invests in the form of senior secured loans, mezzanine loans, and equity securities. It may also seek investments in thinly traded public companies and also make secondary investments. The fund makes non-control equity investments. It primarily exits within three years of the initial capital commitment.

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsor and asset manager. It offers ETFs in equities, currency, fixed income, and alternatives asset classes. The company also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products, as well as offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans. It develops index using its fundamentally weighted index methodology. In addition, the company provides investment advisory services. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in New York, New York.