Contrasting BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund (NYSE:MUC) & Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN)

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund (NYSE:MUC) and Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.0% of BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.9% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horizon Technology Finance has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund and Horizon Technology Finance”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund	$6.39 million	155.85	N/A	N/A	N/A
Horizon Technology Finance	-$28.37 million	-10.72	-$17.18 million	($0.91)	-8.29

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Technology Finance.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund and Horizon Technology Finance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund	0	0	0	0	0.00
Horizon Technology Finance	2	2	1	0	1.80

Horizon Technology Finance has a consensus target price of $8.45, indicating a potential upside of 12.07%. Given Horizon Technology Finance’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Horizon Technology Finance is more favorable than BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund.

Dividends

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Horizon Technology Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.5%. Horizon Technology Finance pays out -145.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund and Horizon Technology Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
Horizon Technology Finance	-3.69%	15.78%	6.58%

Summary

Horizon Technology Finance beats BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund, 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, the interest on which is exempt from Federal and California income taxes. BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund, Inc. was formed in 1997 and is domiciled in United States.

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.