Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) and Nomura (NYSE:NMR) Head-To-Head Contrast

Nomura (NYSE:NMR) and Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Nomura has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equus Total Return has a beta of 0.09, meaning that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Nomura and Equus Total Return, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nomura	0	1	3	1	3.00
Equus Total Return	1	0	0	0	1.00

Nomura presently has a consensus price target of $10.20, suggesting a potential upside of 7.09%. Given Nomura’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Nomura is more favorable than Equus Total Return.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

15.1% of Nomura shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Nomura shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 30.5% of Equus Total Return shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Nomura and Equus Total Return’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nomura	8.09%	10.42%	0.63%
Equus Total Return	-1,408.24%	-14.25%	-11.34%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nomura and Equus Total Return”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nomura	$31.61 billion	0.88	$2.39 billion	$0.86	11.08
Equus Total Return	$1.37 million	8.46	-$14.16 million	($1.40)	-0.59

Nomura has higher revenue and earnings than Equus Total Return. Equus Total Return is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nomura, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Nomura beats Equus Total Return on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nomura

Nomura Holdings, Inc. provides various financial services to individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and governmental agencies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Retail, Investment Management, and Wholesale. The Retail segment offers various financial products and investment consultation services. The Investment Management segment engages in the management of funds, investment trusts, and other investment solutions; and provision of investment advisory, custodial, and administrative services. The Wholesale segment is involved in the research, sale, trading, agency execution, and market-making of fixed income and equity-related products. This segment also engages in underwriting various securities and other financial instruments, such as various classes of shares, convertible and exchangeable securities, investment grade and high yield debts, sovereign and emerging market debts, structured securities, and other securities; arranging private placements, as well as other capital raising activities; and the provision of financial advisory services on business transactions comprising mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, capital structuring, corporate defense activities, leveraged buyouts, and risk solutions. The company was formerly known as The Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Nomura Holdings, Inc. in October 2001. Nomura Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1925 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Equus Total Return

Equus Total Return, Inc. is a business development company (BDC) specializing in leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, corporate partnerships/joint ventures, growth and expansion capital, acquisition financing, roll-up acquisition strategies, operational turnarounds, recapitalizations of existing businesses, special situations, equity and equity-oriented securities issued by privately owned companies, debt securities including subordinate debt, debt convertible into common or preferred stock, or debt combined with warrants and common and preferred stock, and preferred equity financing. It invests in small to mid-sized companies and acts as a lead investor. It invests in technology, telecommunication, financial services, natural resource and industrial manufacturing and services. It invests in companies engaged in the alternative energy, real estate, healthcare, education, e-learning, leisure and entertainment, and foreign investment sector in the United States, China, India, and Europe. It investments include common and preferred stock, debt convertible into common or preferred stock, debt combined with warrants and options, and other rights to acquire common or preferred stock. It seeks to invest in companies between $1 million to $25 million with revenues between $5 million and $150 million with EBITDA between $2 million to $50 million. It seeks to take control and non-control equity positions. Equus Total Return, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas with additional office in Vancouver, Canada.