Head to Head Comparison: Royce Value Trust (NYSE:RVT) versus SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC)

Royce Value Trust (NYSE:RVT) and SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Royce Value Trust and SLR Investment’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Royce Value Trust	$73.91 million	21.92	N/A	N/A	N/A
SLR Investment	$229.31 million	3.67	$76.39 million	$1.40	11.02

SLR Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Royce Value Trust.

Dividends

Royce Value Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. SLR Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.6%. SLR Investment pays out 117.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SLR Investment has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. SLR Investment is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Royce Value Trust and SLR Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Royce Value Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A
SLR Investment	33.31%	9.36%	3.62%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

25.6% of Royce Value Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of SLR Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Royce Value Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of SLR Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Royce Value Trust and SLR Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Royce Value Trust	0	0	0	0	N/A
SLR Investment	1	3	0	0	1.75

SLR Investment has a consensus price target of $14.25, indicating a potential downside of 7.65%. Given SLR Investment’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SLR Investment is more favorable than Royce Value Trust.

Volatility and Risk

Royce Value Trust has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLR Investment has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SLR Investment beats Royce Value Trust on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Royce Value Trust

Royce Value Trust Inc. is a close ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Royce & Associates, LLC. It invests in the public equity markets of the United States. The fund spreads its investments across diversified sectors. It invests in value oriented stocks of small cap and micro cap companies. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Russell 2000 Index. Royce Value Trust Inc. was formed on July 1, 1986 and is domiciled in the United States.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies. The fund invests in aerospace and defense; air freight & logistics; asset management; automotive; banking; beverage, food and tobacco; building products; buildings and real estate; broadcasting and entertainment; cargo transport; commercial services and supplies; communications equipment; chemicals, plastics and rubber; containers, packaging and glass; construction & engineering; diversified/conglomerate manufacturing; consumer Finance; distributors; diversified/conglomerate services; diversified financial services; diversified real estate activities; food products; Footwear; Education Services; diversified telecommunications services; electronics; farming and agriculture; finance; grocery; health care equipment and supplies; health care facilities; education and childcare; home and office furnishing, durable consumer products; hotels, motels, inns and gaming; insurance; restaurants, leisure, amusement, and entertainment; leisure equipment tolls and services, media, multiline retail, multi sector holdings; paper and forest products; personal products; professional services, research and consulting services, software; specialty retail; textiles apparel and luxury goods, thrifts and mortgage finance, trading companies and distributors, utilities, and wireless telecommunication services; industrial conglomerates; internet software and services, IT services, machinery; mining, steel, iron, and non-precious metals; oil and gas; personal, food and miscellaneous services; printing and publishing; retail stores; telecommunications; textiles and leather; and utilities. It also invests in life sciences with focus on specialty pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, health Care Providers and services; health Care technology, enabling technologies and tools. The fund primarily invests in United States. The fund's investments generally range between $5 million and $100 million. The fund invests in companies with revenues between $50 million and $1 billion and EBITDA between $15 million and $100 million. It invests in the form of senior secured loans, mezzanine loans, and equity securities. It may also seek investments in thinly traded public companies and also make secondary investments. The fund makes non-control equity investments. It primarily exits within three years of the initial capital commitment.