KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) & Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) Critical Survey

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) and KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.5% of Eagle Point Credit shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.3% of KKR & Co. Inc. shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Eagle Point Credit shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of KKR & Co. Inc. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Eagle Point Credit has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KKR & Co. Inc. has a beta of 2.01, suggesting that its stock price is 101% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Point Credit and KKR & Co. Inc.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Point Credit	12.33%	13.47%	8.14%
KKR & Co. Inc.	11.97%	5.57%	0.99%

Dividends

Eagle Point Credit pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 45.6%. KKR & Co. Inc. pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Eagle Point Credit pays out 884.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. KKR & Co. Inc. pays out 31.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KKR & Co. Inc. has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Eagle Point Credit and KKR & Co. Inc., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Point Credit	1	2	3	0	2.33
KKR & Co. Inc.	0	3	12	1	2.88

Eagle Point Credit currently has a consensus target price of $6.67, suggesting a potential upside of 80.91%. KKR & Co. Inc. has a consensus target price of $149.00, suggesting a potential upside of 68.38%. Given Eagle Point Credit’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Eagle Point Credit is more favorable than KKR & Co. Inc..

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Eagle Point Credit and KKR & Co. Inc.”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Point Credit	$179.77 million	2.59	$85.49 million	$0.19	19.39
KKR & Co. Inc.	$19.46 billion	4.05	$2.37 billion	$2.34	37.82

KKR & Co. Inc. has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Point Credit. Eagle Point Credit is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KKR & Co. Inc., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

KKR & Co. Inc. beats Eagle Point Credit on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Point Credit

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S. senior secured loans. Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. was formed on March 24, 2014 and is domiciled in the United States.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co., Inc. operates as an investment firm. It offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. The firm’s business segments include Asset Management and Insurance Business. The Asset Management segment engages in providing private equity, real assets, credit and liquid strategies, capital markets, and principal activities. The Insurance Business segment offers retirement, life insurance and reinsurance solutions to clients across individual and institutional markets. The company was founded by Henry Kravis, George R. Roberts, and Jerome Kholberg on May 1, 1976 and is headquartered in New York, NY.