Golub Capital BDC (NASDAQ:GBDC) & MSC Income Fund (NYSE:MSIF) Head-To-Head Contrast

Golub Capital BDC (NASDAQ:GBDC) and MSC Income Fund (NYSE:MSIF) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.4% of Golub Capital BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Golub Capital BDC shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Golub Capital BDC and MSC Income Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Golub Capital BDC	21.45%	9.91%	4.39%
MSC Income Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Golub Capital BDC and MSC Income Fund”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golub Capital BDC	$870.78 million	3.74	$376.65 million	$0.65	19.29
MSC Income Fund	$110.26 million	5.32	-$155,544.55	($0.00)	-3,769.63

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Golub Capital BDC and MSC Income Fund, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Golub Capital BDC	0	2	4	1	2.86
MSC Income Fund	0	3	2	1	2.67

Golub Capital BDC presently has a consensus target price of $13.90, suggesting a potential upside of 10.85%. MSC Income Fund has a consensus target price of $13.88, suggesting a potential upside of 11.57%. Given MSC Income Fund’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe MSC Income Fund is more favorable than Golub Capital BDC.

Summary

Golub Capital BDC beats MSC Income Fund on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Golub Capital BDC

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. (GBDC) is a business development company and operates as an externally managed closed-end non-diversified management investment company. It invests in debt and minority equity investments in middle-market companies that are, in most cases, sponsored by private equity investors. It typically invests in diversified consumer services, automobiles, healthcare technology, insurance, health care equipment and supplies, hotels, restaurants and leisure, healthcare providers and services, IT services and specialty retails. It seeks to invest in the United States. It primarily invests in first lien traditional senior debt, first lien one stop, junior debt and equity, senior secured, one stop, unitranche, second lien, subordinated and mezzanine loans of middle-market companies, and warrants.