Comparing Site Centers (NYSE:SITC) and Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS)

Site Centers (NYSE:SITC) and Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Site Centers and Equus Total Return, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Site Centers	2	1	0	0	1.33
Equus Total Return	1	0	0	0	1.00

Site Centers presently has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.89%. Given Site Centers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Site Centers is more favorable than Equus Total Return.

Volatility and Risk

Site Centers has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equus Total Return has a beta of 0.09, indicating that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.7% of Site Centers shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Site Centers shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 30.5% of Equus Total Return shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Site Centers and Equus Total Return”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Site Centers	$113.49 million	1.59	$177.86 million	$2.41	1.43
Equus Total Return	$1.37 million	9.02	-$14.16 million	($1.40)	-0.63

Site Centers has higher revenue and earnings than Equus Total Return. Equus Total Return is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Site Centers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Site Centers and Equus Total Return’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Site Centers	219.18%	40.56%	27.81%
Equus Total Return	-1,408.24%	-14.25%	-11.34%

Summary

Site Centers beats Equus Total Return on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Site Centers

SITE Centers is an owner and manager of open-air shopping centers located in suburban, high household income communities. The Company is a self-administered and self-managed REIT operating as a fully integrated real estate company, and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SITC.

About Equus Total Return

Equus Total Return, Inc. is a business development company (BDC) specializing in leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, corporate partnerships/joint ventures, growth and expansion capital, acquisition financing, roll-up acquisition strategies, operational turnarounds, recapitalizations of existing businesses, special situations, equity and equity-oriented securities issued by privately owned companies, debt securities including subordinate debt, debt convertible into common or preferred stock, or debt combined with warrants and common and preferred stock, and preferred equity financing. It invests in small to mid-sized companies and acts as a lead investor. It invests in technology, telecommunication, financial services, natural resource and industrial manufacturing and services. It invests in companies engaged in the alternative energy, real estate, healthcare, education, e-learning, leisure and entertainment, and foreign investment sector in the United States, China, India, and Europe. It investments include common and preferred stock, debt convertible into common or preferred stock, debt combined with warrants and options, and other rights to acquire common or preferred stock. It seeks to invest in companies between $1 million to $25 million with revenues between $5 million and $150 million with EBITDA between $2 million to $50 million. It seeks to take control and non-control equity positions. Equus Total Return, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas with additional office in Vancouver, Canada.