Head to Head Comparison: Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) & The Gabelli Equity Trust (NYSE:GAB)

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equus Total Return and The Gabelli Equity Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equus Total Return	-$2.51 million	-6.68	$12.95 million	($0.50)	-2.47
The Gabelli Equity Trust	$147.98 million	11.18	N/A	N/A	N/A

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

Risk & Volatility

Equus Total Return has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Gabelli Equity Trust has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

The Gabelli Equity Trust beats Equus Total Return on 6 of the 8 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 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.