Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY – Get Free Report) and Oportun Financial (NASDAQ:OPRT – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Runway Growth Finance and Oportun Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Runway Growth Finance | 27.05% | 12.91% | 6.33% |
| Oportun Financial | -7.86% | 5.49% | 0.60% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings for Runway Growth Finance and Oportun Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Runway Growth Finance | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
| Oportun Financial | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.00 |
Risk & Volatility
Runway Growth Finance has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oportun Financial has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
64.6% of Runway Growth Finance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of Oportun Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Runway Growth Finance shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.3% of Oportun Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Runway Growth Finance and Oportun Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Runway Growth Finance | $85.89 million | 4.53 | $44.34 million | $1.91 | 5.45 |
| Oportun Financial | $295.20 million | 0.63 | -$78.70 million | ($2.01) | -2.54 |
Runway Growth Finance has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Oportun Financial. Oportun Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Runway Growth Finance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
About Runway Growth Finance
Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in senior-secured loans to late stage and growth companies. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology, life sciences, healthcare and information services, business services and select consumer services and products sectors. It prefers to investments in companies engaged in electronic equipment and instruments, systems software, hardware, storage and peripherals and specialized consumer services, application software, healthcare technology, internet software and services, data processing and outsourced services, internet retail, human resources and employment services, biotechnology, healthcare equipment and education services. It invests in senior secured loans between $10 million and $75 million.
About Oportun Financial
Oportun Financial Corporation provides financial services. The company offers personal loans and credit cards. It serves customers through online and over the phone, as well as through retail and Lending as a Service partner locations. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.
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