Reviewing Mfs Govt Mkts (NYSE:MGF) & Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS)

Mfs Govt Mkts (NYSE:MGF) and Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

54.8% of Mfs Govt Mkts shares are held by institutional investors. 29.9% of Equus Total Return shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Mfs Govt Mkts has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equus Total Return has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Mfs Govt Mkts and Equus Total Return, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mfs Govt Mkts	0	0	0	0	0.00
Equus Total Return	1	0	0	0	1.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mfs Govt Mkts and Equus Total Return”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mfs Govt Mkts	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Equus Total Return	-$10.25 million	-1.90	-$18.78 million	($1.14)	-1.22

Mfs Govt Mkts has higher revenue and earnings than Equus Total Return.

Profitability

This table compares Mfs Govt Mkts and Equus Total Return’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mfs Govt Mkts	N/A	N/A	N/A
Equus Total Return	-1,081.99%	-12.03%	-11.09%

Summary

Mfs Govt Mkts beats Equus Total Return on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mfs Govt Mkts

MFS Government Markets Income Trust is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Massachusetts Financial Services Company. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of United States. It primarily invests in investment grade debt instruments. The fund also invests in mortgage backed, U.S. government agencies, international sovereigns, U.S. treasuries, cash and other net assets, emerging markets debt, high grade corporates, and residential mortgage backed securities. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Barclays U.S. Government/Mortgage Bond Index. MFS Government Markets Income Trust was formed in May 28, 1987 and is domiciled in the United States.

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.