Reviewing Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) and BTC Digital (NASDAQ:BTCT)

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) and BTC Digital (NASDAQ:BTCT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Oaktree Specialty Lending has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BTC Digital has a beta of 5.55, meaning that its share price is 455% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Oaktree Specialty Lending and BTC Digital”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oaktree Specialty Lending	$316.80 million	3.56	$33.92 million	$0.39	32.79
BTC Digital	$11.68 million	1.13	-$1.99 million	($1.20)	-1.47

Oaktree Specialty Lending has higher revenue and earnings than BTC Digital. BTC Digital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oaktree Specialty Lending, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Oaktree Specialty Lending and BTC Digital, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oaktree Specialty Lending	0	7	0	0	2.00
BTC Digital	1	0	0	0	1.00

Oaktree Specialty Lending presently has a consensus price target of $14.25, indicating a potential upside of 11.42%. Given Oaktree Specialty Lending’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Oaktree Specialty Lending is more favorable than BTC Digital.

Profitability

This table compares Oaktree Specialty Lending and BTC Digital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oaktree Specialty Lending	10.71%	10.31%	4.99%
BTC Digital	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

36.8% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.3% of BTC Digital shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of BTC Digital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Oaktree Specialty Lending beats BTC Digital on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies. It seeks to invest in education services, business services, retail and consumer, healthcare, manufacturing, food and restaurants, construction and engineering. The firm also seeks investment in media, advertising sectors, software, IT services, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, real estate management and development, chemicals, machinery, and internet and direct marketing retail sectors. It invests between $5 million to $75 million principally in the form of one-stop, first lien, and second lien debt investments, which may include an equity co-investment component in companies. The firm invest in companies having enterprise value between $20 million and $150 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million. The fund has a hold size of up to $75 million and may underwrite transactions up to $100 million. It primarily invests in North America. The fund seeks to be a lead investor in its portfolio companies.

About BTC Digital

BTC Digital Ltd. a crypto asset technology company engages in bitcoin mining business. It is also involved in mining machines resale and rental business. The company was formerly known as Meten Holding Group Ltd. and changed its name to BTC Digital Ltd. in August 2023. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.