Contrasting BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund (NYSE:MUC) and Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN)

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund (NYSE:MUC) and Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund and Horizon Technology Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
Horizon Technology Finance	-3.69%	15.78%	6.58%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund and Horizon Technology Finance”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund	$6.39 million	154.63	N/A	N/A	N/A
Horizon Technology Finance	-$28.37 million	-10.72	-$17.18 million	($0.91)	-8.29

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Technology Finance.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

31.0% of BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.9% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Horizon Technology Finance shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horizon Technology Finance has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund and Horizon Technology Finance, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund	0	0	0	0	0.00
Horizon Technology Finance	2	2	1	0	1.80

Horizon Technology Finance has a consensus price target of $8.45, indicating a potential upside of 12.07%. Given Horizon Technology Finance’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Horizon Technology Finance is more favorable than BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund.

Dividends

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Horizon Technology Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.5%. Horizon Technology Finance pays out -145.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Horizon Technology Finance beats BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality 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 fixed income markets. It invests primarily in a portfolio of long-term investment-grade municipal obligations, the interest on which is exempt from Federal and California income taxes. BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund, Inc. was formed in 1997 and is domiciled in United States.

About Horizon Technology Finance

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in lending and and investing in development-stage investments. It focuses on making secured debt and venture lending investments to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, cleantech and sustainability industries. It seeks to invest in companies in the United States.