Analyzing Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) and Barings Participation Investors (NYSE:MPV)

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) and Barings Participation Investors (NYSE:MPV) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Hamilton Lane and Barings Participation Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hamilton Lane	30.59%	27.82%	16.02%
Barings Participation Investors	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Hamilton Lane and Barings Participation Investors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hamilton Lane	0	4	6	0	2.60
Barings Participation Investors	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hamilton Lane presently has a consensus price target of $155.38, suggesting a potential upside of 68.14%. Given Hamilton Lane’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Hamilton Lane is more favorable than Barings Participation Investors.

Volatility and Risk

Hamilton Lane has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barings Participation Investors has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hamilton Lane and Barings Participation Investors”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hamilton Lane	$712.96 million	7.23	$217.42 million	$5.57	16.59
Barings Participation Investors	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Hamilton Lane has higher revenue and earnings than Barings Participation Investors.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.4% of Hamilton Lane shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.2% of Hamilton Lane shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Barings Participation Investors shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Hamilton Lane pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Barings Participation Investors pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. Hamilton Lane pays out 38.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hamilton Lane has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Summary

Hamilton Lane beats Barings Participation Investors on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane Incorporated is a private equity firm specializing in early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, middle market, mature, mid-venture, bridge, buyout, distressed/vulture, loan, mezzanine in growth capital companies. It prefers to invest in energy, industrials, consumer discretionary, health care, real estate, information technology, utilities, and consumer services. The firm prefers to invest in Africa/Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, United States of America, and Canada. The firm prefers to invest between $1 million and $100 million. It prefers to take majority stake. Hamilton Lane Incorporated was founded in 1991 and is based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania with additional offices across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

About Barings Participation Investors

Barings Participation Investors is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Barings LLC. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in below-investment grade, long-term corporate debt obligations which are directly purchased from its issuers. The fund also seeks to invest in warrants, conversion rights, or other equity related instruments. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against Standard and Poor's Industrials Composite, Russell 2000 Index, Lehman Brothers U.S. High Yield Index, and Lehman Brothers Intermediate U.S. Credit Index. The fund was formerly known as Babson Capital Participation Investors. Barings Participation Investors was formed on April 7, 1988 and is domiciled in the United States.