Capital Southwest (CSWC) Competitors

Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) and Capital Southwest (NASDAQ:CSWC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, earnings, community ranking and profitability.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, MAIN or CSWC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Main Street Capital	$540.99M	7.76	$428.45M	$5.48	8.94
Capital Southwest	$109.06M	10.57	$83.39M	$2.05	12.48

Does the media prefer MAIN or CSWC?

In the previous week, Main Street Capital had 11 more articles in the media than Capital Southwest. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Main Street Capital and 4 mentions for Capital Southwest. Main Street Capital's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat Capital Southwest's score of 0.40 indicating that Capital Southwest is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Main Street Capital	1 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Capital Southwest	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, MAIN or CSWC?

Main Street Capital has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Capital Southwest has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MAIN or CSWC more profitable?

Main Street Capital has a net margin of 89.11% compared to Main Street Capital's net margin of 46.81%. Main Street Capital's return on equity of 15.88% beat Capital Southwest's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Main Street Capital	89.11%	14.83%	7.88%
Capital Southwest	46.81%	15.88%	7.67%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MAIN or CSWC?

Main Street Capital received 160 more outperform votes than Capital Southwest when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.02% of users gave Capital Southwest an outperform vote while only 56.90% of users gave Main Street Capital an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Main Street Capital	Outperform Votes 400 56.90%	Underperform Votes 303 43.10%
Capital Southwest	Outperform Votes 240 62.02%	Underperform Votes 147 37.98%

Is MAIN or CSWC a better dividend stock?

Main Street Capital pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Capital Southwest pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.9%. Main Street Capital pays out 52.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Capital Southwest pays out 111.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Main Street Capital has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Capital Southwest has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of MAIN or CSWC?

20.3% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.4% of Capital Southwest shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Capital Southwest shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend MAIN or CSWC?

Main Street Capital currently has a consensus price target of $47.67, indicating a potential downside of 2.72%. Capital Southwest has a consensus price target of $25.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.31%. Given Main Street Capital's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Capital Southwest is more favorable than Main Street Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Main Street Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Capital Southwest	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Summary

Main Street Capital beats Capital Southwest on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.