SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) and Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Head to Head Comparison

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Elme Communities and SLR Investment, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elme Communities	1	2	0	0	1.67
SLR Investment	2	4	2	0	2.00

Elme Communities currently has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 937.46%. SLR Investment has a consensus price target of $14.10, indicating a potential upside of 17.99%. Given Elme Communities’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Elme Communities is more favorable than SLR Investment.

Profitability

This table compares Elme Communities and SLR Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elme Communities	-74.71%	-20.43%	-8.29%
SLR Investment	35.20%	7.96%	3.09%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Elme Communities and SLR Investment”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elme Communities	$206.36 million	0.75	-$154.16 million	($1.52)	-1.14
SLR Investment	$85.42 million	7.63	$92.54 million	$1.35	8.85

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.9% of Elme Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of SLR Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Elme Communities shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.8% of SLR Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Elme Communities has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLR Investment has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SLR Investment beats Elme Communities on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Elme Communities

Elme Communities is committed to elevating what home can be for middle-income renters by providing a higher level of quality, service, and experience. The Company is a multifamily real estate investment trust that owns and operates approximately 9,400 apartment homes in the Washington, DC metro and the Atlanta metro regions, and owns approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space. Focused on providing quality, affordable homes to a deep, solid, and underserved base of mid-market demand, Elme Communities is building long-term value for shareholders.

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.