Future FinTech Group (NASDAQ:FTFT – Get Free Report) and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Risk and Volatility
Future FinTech Group has a beta of 1.8, indicating that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Future FinTech Group and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Future FinTech Group | $3.83 million | 13.47 | -$4.62 million | ($30.16) | -0.18 |
| Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund | $397.29 million | 3.10 | $122.09 million | $0.69 | 21.20 |
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Future FinTech Group. Future FinTech Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Future FinTech Group and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Future FinTech Group | -157.53% | -12.22% | -10.08% |
| Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund | 15.97% | 9.61% | 4.28% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Future FinTech Group and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Future FinTech Group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2.14 |
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a consensus target price of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 5.98%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is more favorable than Future FinTech Group.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
0.2% of Future FinTech Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Future FinTech Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund beats Future FinTech Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Future FinTech Group
Future FinTech Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates online shopping platforms in People’s Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Supply Chain Financing Service and Trading Business, Asset Management Service, and Others. The company offers cross-border money transfer service, brokerage and investment banking, and cryptocurrency mining farm business. It also engages in the trading of coal, aluminum ingots, sand, and steel; and E-commerce, digital wallet safety management, blockchain code auditing and operations, cryptocurrency mining, metaverse and big data maintenance services. The company was formerly known as SkyPeople Fruit Juice, Inc. and changed its name to Future FinTech Group Inc. in June 2017. Future FinTech Group Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.
About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.
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