Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) and The Gabelli Equity Trust (NYSE:GAB) Head to Head Analysis

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares The Gabelli Equity Trust and Equus Total Return”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Gabelli Equity Trust	$147.98 million	11.42	N/A	N/A	N/A
Equus Total Return	-$2.51 million	-6.55	$12.95 million	($0.50)	-2.42

Equus Total Return has lower revenue, but higher earnings than The Gabelli Equity Trust.

Profitability

This table compares The Gabelli Equity Trust and Equus Total Return’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Gabelli Equity Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A
Equus Total Return	-621.28%	-7.73%	-3.63%

Volatility & Risk

The Gabelli Equity Trust has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equus Total Return has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.2% of The Gabelli Equity Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of The Gabelli Equity Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 30.6% of Equus Total Return shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

The Gabelli Equity Trust beats Equus Total Return on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About The Gabelli Equity Trust

The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched by GAMCO Investors, Inc. The fund is managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC. It invests in public equity markets of the United States. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It invests in preferred stock, convertible or exchangeable securities, and warrants and rights. The fund primarily invests in value stocks of companies across market capitalizations. It employs fundamental analysis with a bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. The fund seeks to benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite Index. The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. was formed on August 21, 1986 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.