Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN – Get Free Report) and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
Horizon Technology Finance pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.9%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.8%. Horizon Technology Finance pays out 167.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays out 161.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Horizon Technology Finance and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Horizon Technology Finance | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Blackstone Secured Lending Fund | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2.44 |
Profitability
This table compares Horizon Technology Finance and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Horizon Technology Finance | 22.55% | 13.63% | 5.53% |
| Blackstone Secured Lending Fund | 31.63% | 11.73% | 5.12% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
4.9% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.5% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund 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.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Horizon Technology Finance and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Horizon Technology Finance | $96.02 million | 3.02 | -$2.66 million | $0.43 | 9.88 |
| Blackstone Secured Lending Fund | $1.42 billion | 3.94 | $563.46 million | $1.91 | 12.57 |
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Technology Finance. Horizon Technology Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Horizon Technology Finance has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund beats Horizon Technology Finance on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act). In addition, the Fund elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a regulated investment company (RIC), as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The fund also intends to continue to comply with the requirements prescribed by the Code in order to maintain tax treatment as a RIC. The fund's investment objectives are to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily through originated loans, equity and other securities, including syndicated loans, of private U.S. companies, specifically small and middle market companies, typically in the form of first lien senior secured and unitranche loans (including first out/last out loans), and to a lesser extent, second lien, third lien, unsecured and subordinated loans and other debt and equity securities.
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