Financial Survey: Ridgepost Capital (NYSE:RPC) & Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC)

Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC) and Ridgepost Capital (NYSE:RPC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Barings Bdc and Ridgepost Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barings Bdc	$279.21 million	3.12	$101.92 million	$0.83	10.03
Ridgepost Capital	$297.35 million	3.23	$19.50 million	$0.25	34.83

Barings Bdc has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ridgepost Capital. Barings Bdc is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ridgepost Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

44.1% of Barings Bdc shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of Ridgepost Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Barings Bdc shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.8% of Ridgepost Capital shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Barings Bdc has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ridgepost Capital has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Barings Bdc and Ridgepost Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barings Bdc	32.73%	10.07%	4.38%
Ridgepost Capital	9.03%	21.02%	9.21%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Barings Bdc and Ridgepost Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barings Bdc	0	4	1	0	2.20
Ridgepost Capital	0	2	2	0	2.50

Barings Bdc currently has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.14%. Ridgepost Capital has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 49.31%. Given Ridgepost Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ridgepost Capital is more favorable than Barings Bdc.

Dividends

Barings Bdc pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.5%. Ridgepost Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Barings Bdc pays out 125.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ridgepost Capital pays out 64.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Barings Bdc has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Barings Bdc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Ridgepost Capital beats Barings Bdc on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barings Bdc

Barings BDC, Inc. is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries. It specializes in mezzanine, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, ESOPs, change of control transactions, acquisition financings, growth financing, and recapitalizations in lower middle market, mature, and later stage companies. It invests in manufacturing and distribution; business services and technology; transportation and logistics; consumer product and services. It invests in United States. It invests in companies with EBITDA of $10 million to $75 million, typically in private equity sponsor backed.

About Ridgepost Capital

P10, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-asset class private market solutions provider in the alternative asset management industry in the United States. The company offers private equity, venture capital, private credit, impact investing, and private credit services, as well as primary fund of funds, secondary investment, and direct and co-investments services. It also provides tax credit transaction and consulting services. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.