Analyzing Vinci Compass Investments (NASDAQ:VINP) and TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC (NYSE:TPVG)

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC (NYSE:TPVG) and Vinci Compass Investments (NASDAQ:VINP) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC and Vinci Compass Investments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC	44.58%	10.68%	4.58%
Vinci Compass Investments	23.77%	12.65%	6.67%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.8% of TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.1% of Vinci Compass Investments shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 49.3% of Vinci Compass Investments shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC and Vinci Compass Investments”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC	$90.93 million	2.06	$49.21 million	$0.99	4.65
Vinci Compass Investments	$1.06 billion	0.54	$38.97 million	$0.70	12.46

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vinci Compass Investments. TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vinci Compass Investments, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC and Vinci Compass Investments, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC	2	3	0	0	1.60
Vinci Compass Investments	1	1	1	0	2.00

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC currently has a consensus price target of $5.17, indicating a potential upside of 12.20%. Vinci Compass Investments has a consensus price target of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 60.55%. Given Vinci Compass Investments’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vinci Compass Investments is more favorable than TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC.

Dividends

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.0%. Vinci Compass Investments pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC pays out 92.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Vinci Compass Investments pays out 97.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vinci Compass Investments has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vinci Compass Investments beats TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in venture capital-backed companies at the growth stage investments. It also provides debt financing to venture growth space companies which includes growth capital loans, secured and customized loans, equipment financings, revolving loans and direct equity investments. The fund seeks to invest in e-commerce, entertainment, technology and life sciences sector. Within technology the areas of focus include: Security, wireless communication equipments, network system and software, business applications software, conferencing equipments/services .big data, cloud computing, data storage, electronics, energy efficiency, hardware, information services, internet and media, networking, semiconductors, software, software as a service, and other technology related subsectors and within life sciences the areas of focus include: biotechnology, bio fuels/bio mass, diagnostic testing and bioinformatics, drug delivery, drug discovery, healthcare information systems, healthcare services, medical, surgical and therapeutic devices, pharmaceuticals and other life science related subsectors. Within growth capital loans it invests between $5 million and $50 million, for equipment financings it invests between $5 million and $25 million, for revolving loans it invests between $1 million and $25 million, and for direct equity investments it may invest between $0.1 million and $5 million (generally not exceeding 5% of the company’s total equity). The debt financing products are typically structured as lines of credit and it invests through warrants and secured loans. It targeted returns between 10% and 18%. It does not take board seat in the company.

About Vinci Compass Investments

Vinci Partners Investments Ltd. operates as an asset management firm in Brazil. The company focuses on private markets, liquid strategies, investment products and solutions, and retirement services. It offers private equity, infrastructure, real estate, credit, special situations, equities, hedge funds, and investment products and solutions comprising portfolio and management services. In addition, the company financial and strategic advisory services, focusing on IPO advisory and mergers and acquisition transactions to entrepreneurs, corporate senior management teams, and boards of directors. Vinci Partners Investments Ltd. was founded in 2009 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.