MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTW – Get Free Report) and Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.
Dividends
MarketWise pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Horizon Technology Finance pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.4%. MarketWise pays out 113.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Horizon Technology Finance pays out 200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. MarketWise has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares MarketWise and Horizon Technology Finance”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| MarketWise | $328.12 million | 0.88 | $5.62 million | $0.88 | 20.69 |
| Horizon Technology Finance | $96.02 million | 3.27 | -$2.66 million | $0.36 | 13.03 |
MarketWise has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Technology Finance. Horizon Technology Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MarketWise, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for MarketWise and Horizon Technology Finance, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| MarketWise | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Horizon Technology Finance | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Horizon Technology Finance has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.61%. Given Horizon Technology Finance’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Horizon Technology Finance is more favorable than MarketWise.
Profitability
This table compares MarketWise and Horizon Technology Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| MarketWise | 0.70% | -0.96% | 1.10% |
| Horizon Technology Finance | 5.27% | 11.15% | 4.84% |
Risk & Volatility
MarketWise has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horizon Technology Finance has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
23.0% of MarketWise shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.9% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.9% of MarketWise shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
MarketWise beats Horizon Technology Finance on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About MarketWise
MarketWise, Inc. operates a content and technology multi-brand platform for self-directed investors in the United States and Internationally. Its platform includes subscription businesses that provides financial research, software, education, and tools to navigate the financial markets. The company offers various investment strategies, such as value investing, income, growth, commodities, cryptocurrencies, venture, crowdfunded investing, biotechnology, mutual funds, options, and trading; investment research product portfolio through a range of media, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile; and financial newsletters. It provides a suite of stock research tools and portfolio management services under the Chaikin Analytics brand; portfolio management software tools under the TradeSmith brand name; and database of accounting-based financial summaries under the Altimetry brand. In addition, the company develops screeners, monitors, portfolio management tools, and proprietary indicators that produce a composite score to rank publicly traded companies. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
About Horizon Technology Finance
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in lending and and investing in development-stage investments. It focuses on making secured debt and venture lending investments to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, cleantech and sustainability industries. It seeks to invest in companies in the United States.
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