Head to Head Review: Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) versus Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC)

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) and Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Barings BDC and Abacus Life’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barings BDC	$139.67 million	7.02	$128.00 million	$1.19	7.77
Abacus Life	$79.59 million	9.61	$9.52 million	N/A	N/A

Barings BDC has higher revenue and earnings than Abacus Life.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Barings BDC and Abacus Life, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barings BDC	0	1	1	0	2.50
Abacus Life	0	0	0	0	N/A

Barings BDC currently has a consensus price target of $9.13, indicating a potential downside of 1.14%. Given Barings BDC’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Barings BDC is more favorable than Abacus Life.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.1% of Barings BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Barings BDC shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 47.0% of Abacus Life shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Barings BDC and Abacus Life’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barings BDC	44.26%	10.63%	4.70%
Abacus Life	N/A	1.09%	0.55%

Volatility & Risk

Barings BDC has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abacus Life has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Barings BDC beats Abacus Life on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barings BDC

Barings BDC, Inc. is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries. It specializes in mezzanine, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, ESOPs, change of control transactions, acquisition financings, growth financing, and recapitalizations in lower middle market, mature, and later stage companies. It invests in manufacturing and distribution; business services and technology; transportation and logistics; consumer product and services. It invests in United States. It invests in companies with EBITDA of $10 million to $75 million, typically in private equity sponsor backed.

About Abacus Life

Abacus Life, Inc. operates as an alternative asset manager specializing in life insurance products. It purchases life insurance policies from consumers seeking liquidity and manages policies over time via trading, holding, and/or servicing. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Orlando, Florida.