Comparing Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) and Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP)

Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP) and Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.1% of Perella Weinberg Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.1% of Fidus Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.1% of Perella Weinberg Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Fidus Investment shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Perella Weinberg Partners and Fidus Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perella Weinberg Partners	$750.90 million	1.59	$35.48 million	$0.26	48.92
Fidus Investment	$155.87 million	4.49	$82.40 million	$2.09	8.83

Fidus Investment has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Perella Weinberg Partners. Fidus Investment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Perella Weinberg Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Perella Weinberg Partners has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidus Investment has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Perella Weinberg Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Fidus Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.3%. Perella Weinberg Partners pays out 107.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Fidus Investment pays out 82.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Fidus Investment is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Perella Weinberg Partners and Fidus Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perella Weinberg Partners	3.19%	-35.84%	8.40%
Fidus Investment	45.36%	10.87%	5.64%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Perella Weinberg Partners and Fidus Investment, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perella Weinberg Partners	1	1	2	0	2.25
Fidus Investment	0	2	0	0	2.00

Perella Weinberg Partners presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 72.96%. Fidus Investment has a consensus price target of $19.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.69%. Given Perella Weinberg Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Perella Weinberg Partners is more favorable than Fidus Investment.

Summary

Perella Weinberg Partners beats Fidus Investment on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners, an independent investment banking company, provides strategic and financial advice services in the United States and internationally. The company offers advisory services related to strategic and financial decisions, mergers and acquisition execution, shareholder and defense advisory, and financing and capital solutions advice with resources focused on restructuring, liability management, and capital markets advisory, as well as underwriting and research services primarily for the energy and related industries. It serves public multinational corporations, mid-sized public and private companies, financial sponsors, individual entrepreneurs, private and institutional investors, creditor committees, and government institutions in consumer and retail; energy and energy transition; financial services and FinTech; healthcare; industrials and infrastructure; and technology, telecommunication, and media industries. Perella Weinberg Partners is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans. It does not invest in turnarounds or distressed situations. The fund prefers to invest in aerospace and defense, business services, consumer products and services including retail, food, and beverage, healthcare products and services, industrial products and services, information technology services, niche manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and value-added distribution sectors. It seeks to invest in companies based in United States. The fund typically invests between $5 million and $15 million per transaction in companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million and an annual EBITDA between $3 million and $20 million, but it can occasionally invest in larger or smaller companies. It seeks to acquire minority equity stakes and board observation rights in conjunction with its investments.