Critical Review: CION Investment (NYSE:CION) versus CaliberCos (NASDAQ:CWD)

CaliberCos (NASDAQ:CWD) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CaliberCos and CION Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CaliberCos	$20.10 million	0.22	-$21.80 million	($3.79)	-0.11
CION Investment	$240.82 million	1.30	-$20.63 million	$0.06	106.25

CION Investment has higher revenue and earnings than CaliberCos. CaliberCos is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CION Investment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

4.1% of CaliberCos shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.0% of CION Investment shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of CaliberCos shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of CION Investment shares are held by company 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.

Volatility and Risk

CaliberCos has a beta of -0.1, indicating that its stock price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CION Investment has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares CaliberCos and CION Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CaliberCos	-117.34%	-75.44%	-13.87%
CION Investment	1.17%	11.95%	4.52%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for CaliberCos and CION Investment, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CaliberCos	1	0	0	0	1.00
CION Investment	1	2	0	0	1.67

CION Investment has a consensus target price of $6.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.96%. Given CION Investment’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CION Investment is more favorable than CaliberCos.

Summary

CION Investment beats CaliberCos on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CaliberCos

Caliber (NASDAQ: CWD) is a vertically integrated alternative asset management firm whose purpose is to build generational wealth for investors seeking to access opportunities in middle-market assets. Caliber differentiates itself by creating, managing, and servicing proprietary products, including middle-market investment funds, private syndications, and direct investments which are managed by our in-house asset services group. Our funds include investment vehicles focused primarily on real estate, private equity, and debt facilities. Additional information can be found at Caliberco.com and CaliberFunds.co.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies. The firm invests in growth capital, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, market/product expansion, refinancing and recapitalization. The fund also invests up to 30 percent of their assets opportunistically in other types of investments, including the securities of larger public companies and foreign securities. It also makes investments in the secondary loan market. The fund does not invest in start-up companies, turnaround situations, or companies with speculative business plans. The fund prefers to invest in high tech industries, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, business services, media, chemicals, plastic, rubber, telecommunication, consumer services, advertising, printing and publishing, consumer goods, durables, diversified financials, and other industries. It also invests in homebuilding, restaurants, beverage and tobacco bars, broadcasting, distributors, Non-durable good distribution, food beverage and tobacco, energy, oil gas and consumables fuels, insurance, aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, paper and forest product machinery, information technology, metals and mining, and real estate. It primarily seeks to invest in the United States. The fund seeks to invest between $5 million and $50 million in companies with an EBITDA between $25 million and $75 million with average targeted hold of $25 million. It also purchases minority interests in the form of common or preferred equity in the target companies, typically in conjunction with its debt investments or through a co-investment with a financial sponsor. The fund seeks to exit its investments through an initial public offering of common stock, a merger, a sale, or other recapitalization.