Head to Head Comparison: Nicholas Financial (NASDAQ:NICK) versus Palmer Square Capital BDC (NYSE:PSBD)

Nicholas Financial (NASDAQ:NICK) and Palmer Square Capital BDC (NYSE:PSBD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Nicholas Financial and Palmer Square Capital BDC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nicholas Financial	-134.48%	-50.06%	-42.27%
Palmer Square Capital BDC	96.09%	23.31%	9.23%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nicholas Financial and Palmer Square Capital BDC’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nicholas Financial	$44.34 million	1.97	-$34.12 million	($5.01)	-1.37
Palmer Square Capital BDC	$112.22 million	4.79	$107.84 million	N/A	N/A

Palmer Square Capital BDC has higher revenue and earnings than Nicholas Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.9% of Nicholas Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.5% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are held by institutional investors. 43.0% of Nicholas Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Nicholas Financial and Palmer Square Capital BDC, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nicholas Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0	3	4	0	2.57

Palmer Square Capital BDC has a consensus price target of $16.93, indicating a potential upside of 2.60%. Given Palmer Square Capital BDC’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Palmer Square Capital BDC is more favorable than Nicholas Financial.

Summary

Palmer Square Capital BDC beats Nicholas Financial on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nicholas Financial

Nicholas Financial, Inc. operates as a consumer finance company in the United States. The company engages in acquiring and servicing automobile finance installment contracts for the purchase of new and used automobiles and light trucks. It also originates direct consumer loans and sells consumer-finance related products. The company operates branch offices located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. Nicholas Financial, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Clearwater, Florida.

About Palmer Square Capital BDC

Palmer Square Capital BDC Inc. is an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company which primarily lends to and invests in corporate debt securities, including small to large private U.S. companies and has elected to be regulated as a business development company. Palmer Square Capital BDC Inc. is based in MISSION WOODS, Kan.