Comparing KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) & Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for KKR & Co. Inc. and Portman Ridge Finance, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KKR & Co. Inc.	1	3	12	1	2.76
Portman Ridge Finance	0	0	0	0	0.00

KKR & Co. Inc. presently has a consensus price target of $134.67, indicating a potential upside of 38.05%. Given KKR & Co. Inc.’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe KKR & Co. Inc. is more favorable than Portman Ridge Finance.

Dividends

KKR & Co. Inc. pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Portman Ridge Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 23.2%. KKR & Co. Inc. pays out 25.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Portman Ridge Finance pays out -202.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. KKR & Co. Inc. has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Portman Ridge Finance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

76.3% of KKR & Co. Inc. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.1% of Portman Ridge Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 23.2% of KKR & Co. Inc. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Portman Ridge Finance shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

KKR & Co. Inc. has a beta of 1.85, indicating that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Portman Ridge Finance has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares KKR & Co. Inc. and Portman Ridge Finance”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KKR & Co. Inc.	$19.46 billion	4.50	$2.37 billion	$2.94	33.18
Portman Ridge Finance	-$2.85 million	-37.56	-$5.93 million	($0.93)	-8.71

KKR & Co. Inc. has higher revenue and earnings than Portman Ridge Finance. Portman Ridge Finance 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.

Profitability

This table compares KKR & Co. Inc. and Portman Ridge Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KKR & Co. Inc.	13.94%	5.42%	0.98%
Portman Ridge Finance	-15.92%	11.49%	4.54%

Summary

KKR & Co. Inc. beats Portman Ridge Finance on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Portman Ridge Finance

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business. It primarily invests in healthcare, cargo transport, manufacturing, industrial & environmental services, logistics & distribution, media & telecommunications, real estate, education, automotive, agriculture, aerospace/defense, packaging, electronics, finance, non-durable consumer, consumer products, business services, utilities, insurance, and food and beverage sectors. The fund typically invests $1 million to $20 million in its portfolio companies. It provides senior secured term loans from $2 million to $20 million maturing in five to seven years; second lien term loans from $5 million to $15 million maturing in six to eight years; senior unsecured loans $5 million to $23 million maturing in six to eight years; mezzanine loans from $5 million to $15 million maturing in seven to ten years; and equity investments from $1 to $5 million. The fund targets the companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million. While investing in debt securities, it invests in those middle market firms with EBITDA between $10 million and $50 million and/or total debt between $25 million and $150 million. It invests in minority, and majority or control equity positions alongside its private equity sponsor partners.