Critical Contrast: Baltic International USA (OTCMKTS:BISA) versus Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN)

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) and Baltic International USA (OTCMKTS:BISA) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Horizon Technology Finance and Baltic International USA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Horizon Technology Finance	3	3	1	0	1.71
Baltic International USA	0	0	0	0	0.00

Horizon Technology Finance presently has a consensus target price of $6.20, indicating a potential upside of 51.22%. Given Horizon Technology Finance’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Horizon Technology Finance is more favorable than Baltic International USA.

Profitability

This table compares Horizon Technology Finance and Baltic International USA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Horizon Technology Finance	-2.77%	14.52%	5.76%
Baltic International USA	N/A	N/A	-806.45%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

4.9% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.4% of Baltic International USA shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Horizon Technology Finance and Baltic International USA”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Horizon Technology Finance	$96.02 million	2.04	-$2.66 million	($0.16)	-25.63
Baltic International USA	N/A	N/A	-$30,000.00	($0.01)	-0.03

Baltic International USA has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Horizon Technology Finance. Horizon Technology Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Baltic International USA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Horizon Technology Finance has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Baltic International USA has a beta of -1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 217% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Horizon Technology Finance beats Baltic International USA on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Horizon Technology Finance

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in lending and and investing in development-stage investments. It focuses on making secured debt and venture lending investments to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, cleantech and sustainability industries. It seeks to invest in companies in the United States.

About Baltic International USA

Baltic International USA, Inc. does not have significant operations. It intends to investigate and acquire a target company or business seeking to become a publicly held corporation. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas.