Critical Survey: Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) & Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust (NYSE:PMO)

Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) and Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust (NYSE:PMO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Equus Total Return and Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equus Total Return	$16.15 million	1.14	$12.95 million	N/A	N/A
Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Equus Total Return has higher revenue and earnings than Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Equus Total Return and Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equus Total Return	2,221.48%	-11.68%	-6.81%
Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

20.4% of Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 30.7% of Equus Total Return shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Equus Total Return and Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equus Total Return	0	0	0	0	N/A
Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust	0	0	0	0	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Equus Total Return has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equus Total Return beats Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust on 4 of the 7 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust

Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Putnam Investment Management, LLC. The fund is co-managed by Putnam Investments Limited. It invests in fixed income markets of United States. The fund invests in companies operating across healthcare, utilities, transportation, water and sewer, and housing sectors. Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust was formed in 1993 and is domiciled in United States.