Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) & Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN) Head to Head Survey

Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN) and Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Portman Ridge Finance and Eagle Point Credit”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Portman Ridge Finance	-$2.85 million	-32.69	-$5.93 million	($0.93)	-7.58
Eagle Point Credit	$203.99 million	2.40	-$115.00 million	$0.95	3.90

Portman Ridge Finance has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Eagle Point Credit. Portman Ridge Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eagle Point Credit, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Portman Ridge Finance and Eagle Point Credit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Portman Ridge Finance	-15.92%	11.49%	4.54%
Eagle Point Credit	12.33%	13.47%	8.14%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

30.1% of Portman Ridge Finance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.5% of Eagle Point Credit shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Portman Ridge Finance shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Eagle Point Credit shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Portman Ridge Finance has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Point Credit has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Portman Ridge Finance and Eagle Point Credit, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Portman Ridge Finance	0	0	0	0	0.00
Eagle Point Credit	0	2	3	0	2.60

Eagle Point Credit has a consensus target price of $6.50, suggesting a potential upside of 75.44%. Given Eagle Point Credit’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Eagle Point Credit is more favorable than Portman Ridge Finance.

Dividends

Portman Ridge Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 26.7%. Eagle Point Credit pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 38.9%. Portman Ridge Finance pays out -202.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Point Credit pays out 151.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Eagle Point Credit beats Portman Ridge Finance on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Portman Ridge Finance

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business. It primarily invests in healthcare, cargo transport, manufacturing, industrial & environmental services, logistics & distribution, media & telecommunications, real estate, education, automotive, agriculture, aerospace/defense, packaging, electronics, finance, non-durable consumer, consumer products, business services, utilities, insurance, and food and beverage sectors. The fund typically invests $1 million to $20 million in its portfolio companies. It provides senior secured term loans from $2 million to $20 million maturing in five to seven years; second lien term loans from $5 million to $15 million maturing in six to eight years; senior unsecured loans $5 million to $23 million maturing in six to eight years; mezzanine loans from $5 million to $15 million maturing in seven to ten years; and equity investments from $1 to $5 million. The fund targets the companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million. While investing in debt securities, it invests in those middle market firms with EBITDA between $10 million and $50 million and/or total debt between $25 million and $150 million. It invests in minority, and majority or control equity positions alongside its private equity sponsor partners.

About Eagle Point Credit

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S. senior secured loans. Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. was formed on March 24, 2014 and is domiciled in the United States.