BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III (NYSE:MYI) and John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) Critical Contrast

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III (NYSE:MYI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.5% of John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.0% of BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	0	0	0	1	4.00
BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III	0	0	0	0	0.00

Risk & Volatility

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	$142.41 million	4.71	N/A	N/A	N/A
BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III	$38.59 million	19.39	N/A	N/A	N/A

Profitability

This table compares John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III pays an annual dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%.

Summary

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund beats BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It seeks to invest in the stocks of companies operating across the financial services sector. The fund invests in companies across all market capitalizations. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P Composite 1500 Banks Index. The fund was formerly known as John Hancock Bank and Thrift Opportunity Fund. John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund was formed on August 23, 1994 and is domiciled in the United States.

About BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III

BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. It is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It invests primarily in a portfolio of long-term investment-grade municipal obligations exempt from federal income taxes. BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III, Inc. was formed in April 13, 1992 and is domiciled in United States.