Head to Head Analysis: BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund (NYSE:DSM) and SuRo Capital (NASDAQ:SSSS)

BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund (NYSE:DSM) and SuRo Capital (NASDAQ:SSSS) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund and SuRo Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
SuRo Capital	-801.00%	-7.28%	-5.10%

Dividends

BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. SuRo Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. SuRo Capital pays out -5.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

12.9% of SuRo Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 6.0% of SuRo Capital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund and SuRo Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund	0	0	0	0	0.00
SuRo Capital	0	0	2	0	3.00

SuRo Capital has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.35%. Given SuRo Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SuRo Capital is more favorable than BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund and SuRo Capital”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SuRo Capital	-$33.35 million	-4.03	$5.07 million	($1.89)	-3.04

SuRo Capital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund.

Volatility & Risk

BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SuRo Capital has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SuRo Capital beats BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund

BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in investment grade municipal bonds which are exempt from federal income tax. The fund seeks to maintain a weighted average maturity of greater than 10 years. It was formerly known as Dreyfus Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. was formed on November 22, 1989 and is domiciled in the United States.

About SuRo Capital

SuRo Capital Corp. is a business development company. The firm seeks to invest in growth capital, late stage and venture capital-backed private companies. SuRo Capital Corp. was founded in 2010 and is based in San Francisco, California with additional office in New York, New York.