Head-To-Head Comparison: Rand Capital (NASDAQ:RAND) & Chicago Atlantic BDC (NASDAQ:LIEN)

Chicago Atlantic BDC (NASDAQ:LIEN) and Rand Capital (NASDAQ:RAND) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Chicago Atlantic BDC and Rand Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chicago Atlantic BDC	52.82%	11.66%	10.21%
Rand Capital	-2.67%	5.47%	5.23%

Dividends

Chicago Atlantic BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.4%. Rand Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.8%. Chicago Atlantic BDC pays out 97.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rand Capital pays out -2,900.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Chicago Atlantic BDC and Rand Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chicago Atlantic BDC	$40.13 million	5.79	$33.28 million	$1.39	7.32
Rand Capital	$6.47 million	4.92	-$8.04 million	($0.04)	-267.88

Chicago Atlantic BDC has higher revenue and earnings than Rand Capital. Rand Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chicago Atlantic BDC, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Chicago Atlantic BDC and Rand Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chicago Atlantic BDC	0	1	0	0	2.00
Rand Capital	1	0	0	0	1.00

Risk & Volatility

Chicago Atlantic BDC has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rand Capital has a beta of 0.11, suggesting that its share price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

4.4% of Chicago Atlantic BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.9% of Chicago Atlantic BDC shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 68.2% of Rand Capital shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Chicago Atlantic BDC beats Rand Capital on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chicago Atlantic BDC

Chicago Atlantic BDC Inc. is a specialty finance company which has elected to be regulated as a business development company. Its investment objective is to maximize risk-adjusted returns on equity for its stockholders by investing primarily in direct loans to privately held middle-market companies, with a primary focus on cannabis companies. Chicago Atlantic BDC Inc., formerly known as CHICAGO ATLNTIC, is based in NEW YORK.

About Rand Capital

Rand Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in subordinated debt with warrants or preferred equity and venture capital investments. Within private equity, the firm specializing in capital growth and lower middle market investments. Within venture capital, it specializing in early to late-stage private businesses. It does not prefer to invest in real estate sector. It prefers to invest in software, professional services, manufacturing, consumer, healthcare, automotive and public d stocks. It prefers to invest in East or Midwest U.S. operations sectors. It typically invests between $0.75 million and $5 million with initial target size of $1.5 million. It seeks to invest in companies having more than $2 million in revenue or having excess of $1.5 million and up to $5 million in EBITDA. It prefers to be a minority stake and seeks to take a Board seat in its portfolio companies. It typically holds its investments for a period up to five years.