Financial Review: Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) vs. Investcorp Credit Management BDC (NASDAQ:ICMB)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) and Investcorp Credit Management BDC (NASDAQ:ICMB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Blackstone Secured Lending Fund and Investcorp Credit Management BDC”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	$1.42 billion	3.87	$563.46 million	$1.91	12.37
Investcorp Credit Management BDC	-$15.41 million	-1.12	-$8.85 million	($1.37)	-0.88

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Investcorp Credit Management BDC. Investcorp Credit Management 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.

Volatility and Risk

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Investcorp Credit Management BDC has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Blackstone Secured Lending Fund and Investcorp Credit Management BDC, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	1	3	5	0	2.44
Investcorp Credit Management BDC	1	0	0	0	1.00

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund presently has a consensus target price of $25.13, suggesting a potential upside of 6.37%. Given Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is more favorable than Investcorp Credit Management BDC.

Profitability

This table compares Blackstone Secured Lending Fund and Investcorp Credit Management BDC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	31.63%	11.73%	5.12%
Investcorp Credit Management BDC	-118.71%	2.26%	0.75%

Dividends

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.0%. Investcorp Credit Management BDC pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 40.0%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays out 161.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Investcorp Credit Management BDC pays out -35.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Investcorp Credit Management BDC has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Investcorp Credit Management BDC is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

36.5% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.8% of Investcorp Credit Management BDC shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Investcorp Credit Management BDC shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund beats Investcorp Credit Management BDC on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Investcorp Credit Management BDC

Investcorp Credit Management BDC, Inc. is a business development company specializing in loan, mezzanine, middle market, growth capital, acquisitions, market/product expansion, organic growth, refinancings and recapitalization investments. It also selectively invests in mezzanine loans/structured equity and in the equity of portfolio companies through warrants and other instruments, in most cases taking such upside participation interests as part of a broader investment relationship. The fund typically invests in United States and Europe. Within United States, the fund seeks to invest in Midatlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and West Coast regions. The fund primarily invests in cable and satellites; consumer services; healthcare equipment and services; industrials; information technology; telecommunication services; and utilities sectors. The fund seeks to invest between $5 million to $25 million in companies that have annual revenues of at least $50 million with EBITDA at least $15 million.