Contrasting Equus Total Return (NYSE:EQS) & BlackRock MuniVest Fund (NYSE:MVF)

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.2% of BlackRock MuniVest Fund shares are held by institutional investors. 30.6% of Equus Total Return shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of BlackRock MuniVest Fund shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Equus Total Return has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackRock MuniVest Fund has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Equus Total Return and BlackRock MuniVest Fund”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equus Total Return	-$2.51 million	-5.93	$12.95 million	($0.50)	-2.19
BlackRock MuniVest Fund	$29.36 million	14.44	N/A	N/A	N/A

Equus Total Return has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BlackRock MuniVest Fund.

Profitability

This table compares Equus Total Return and BlackRock MuniVest Fund’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%
BlackRock MuniVest Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

BlackRock MuniVest Fund 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 BlackRock MuniVest Fund

BlackRock MuniVest Fund, Inc. is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. It is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in investment grade, long term municipal obligations that are exempt from federal income taxes. The fund seeks to invest in securities with maturities of more than ten years. BlackRock MuniVest Fund, Inc. was formed on September 29, 1988 and is domiciled in the United States.