Head to Head Survey: SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) & BlackRock MuniVest Fund II (NYSE:MVT)

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) and BlackRock MuniVest Fund II (NYSE:MVT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for SLR Investment and BlackRock MuniVest Fund II, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SLR Investment	2	2	0	0	1.50
BlackRock MuniVest Fund II	0	0	0	0	N/A

SLR Investment presently has a consensus price target of $15.25, suggesting a potential upside of 0.93%. Given SLR Investment’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe SLR Investment is more favorable than BlackRock MuniVest Fund II.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.3% of SLR Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.2% of BlackRock MuniVest Fund II shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of SLR Investment shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of BlackRock MuniVest Fund II 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.

Profitability

This table compares SLR Investment and BlackRock MuniVest Fund II’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SLR Investment	42.99%	9.65%	3.83%
BlackRock MuniVest Fund II	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

SLR Investment has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackRock MuniVest Fund II has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SLR Investment and BlackRock MuniVest Fund II”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SLR Investment	$229.31 million	3.60	$76.39 million	$1.78	8.49
BlackRock MuniVest Fund II	$7.05 million	34.44	N/A	N/A	N/A

SLR Investment has higher revenue and earnings than BlackRock MuniVest Fund II.

Dividends

SLR Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.9%. BlackRock MuniVest Fund II pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. SLR Investment pays out 92.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

SLR Investment beats BlackRock MuniVest Fund II on 9 of the 11 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 BlackRock MuniVest Fund II

BlackRock MuniVest Fund II, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. It is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It invests primarily in long-term municipal bonds exempt from federal income taxes. BlackRock MuniVest Fund II, Inc. was formed on March 29, 1993 and is domiciled in United States.