Contrasting Crescent Capital BDC (NASDAQ:CCAP) & Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)

Crescent Capital BDC (NASDAQ:CCAP) and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Crescent Capital BDC and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crescent Capital BDC	-2.02%	9.02%	3.82%
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	21.51%	11.86%	5.10%

Dividends

Crescent Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.7%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.2%. Crescent Capital BDC pays out -1,511.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays out 242.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Crescent Capital BDC has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Crescent Capital BDC is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Crescent Capital BDC and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crescent Capital BDC	$167.29 million	2.04	$34.51 million	($0.09)	-103.00
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	$1.42 billion	3.82	$563.46 million	$1.27	18.32

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Crescent Capital BDC. Crescent Capital BDC is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

49.5% of Crescent Capital BDC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.5% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Crescent Capital BDC shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Crescent Capital BDC and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crescent Capital BDC	0	6	1	0	2.14
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	1	7	4	0	2.25

Crescent Capital BDC currently has a consensus target price of $12.25, indicating a potential upside of 32.15%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a consensus target price of $24.89, indicating a potential upside of 6.98%. Given Crescent Capital BDC’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Crescent Capital BDC is more favorable than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund.

Volatility and Risk

Crescent Capital BDC has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund beats Crescent Capital BDC on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crescent Capital BDC

Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. is as a business development company private equity / buyouts and loan fund. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. The fund seeks to invest in United States.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act). In addition, the Fund elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a regulated investment company (RIC), as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The fund also intends to continue to comply with the requirements prescribed by the Code in order to maintain tax treatment as a RIC. The fund's investment objectives are to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily through originated loans, equity and other securities, including syndicated loans, of private U.S. companies, specifically small and middle market companies, typically in the form of first lien senior secured and unitranche loans (including first out/last out loans), and to a lesser extent, second lien, third lien, unsecured and subordinated loans and other debt and equity securities.