Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund (NYSE:NIM) vs. SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Critical Contrast

Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund (NYSE:NIM) and SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund and SLR Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund	$4.53 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SLR Investment	$111.38 million	7.66	$76.39 million	$1.78	8.79

SLR Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund.

Volatility and Risk

Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund has a beta of 0.26, meaning that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLR Investment has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund and SLR Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund	0	0	0	0	N/A
SLR Investment	2	2	0	0	1.50

SLR Investment has a consensus price target of $15.25, indicating a potential downside of 2.49%. Given SLR Investment’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SLR Investment is more favorable than Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund.

Profitability

This table compares Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund and SLR Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
SLR Investment	42.99%	9.65%	3.83%

Dividends

Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. SLR Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.5%. SLR Investment pays out 92.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

32.2% of Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of SLR Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of SLR Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

SLR Investment beats Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund

Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests primarily in municipal securities rated Baa/BBB or better. It invests in securities that provide income exempt from federal income tax. The fund employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P Intermediate Municipal Bond Index and the S&P National Municipal Bond Index. Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund was formed on September 18, 1992 and is domiciled in the United States.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies. The fund invests in aerospace and defense; air freight & logistics; asset management; automotive; banking; beverage, food and tobacco; building products; buildings and real estate; broadcasting and entertainment; cargo transport; commercial services and supplies; communications equipment; chemicals, plastics and rubber; containers, packaging and glass; construction & engineering; diversified/conglomerate manufacturing; consumer Finance; distributors; diversified/conglomerate services; diversified financial services; diversified real estate activities; food products; Footwear; Education Services; diversified telecommunications services; electronics; farming and agriculture; finance; grocery; health care equipment and supplies; health care facilities; education and childcare; home and office furnishing, durable consumer products; hotels, motels, inns and gaming; insurance; restaurants, leisure, amusement, and entertainment; leisure equipment tolls and services, media, multiline retail, multi sector holdings; paper and forest products; personal products; professional services, research and consulting services, software; specialty retail; textiles apparel and luxury goods, thrifts and mortgage finance, trading companies and distributors, utilities, and wireless telecommunication services; industrial conglomerates; internet software and services, IT services, machinery; mining, steel, iron, and non-precious metals; oil and gas; personal, food and miscellaneous services; printing and publishing; retail stores; telecommunications; textiles and leather; and utilities. It also invests in life sciences with focus on specialty pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, health Care Providers and services; health Care technology, enabling technologies and tools. The fund primarily invests in United States. The fund's investments generally range between $5 million and $100 million. The fund invests in companies with revenues between $50 million and $1 billion and EBITDA between $15 million and $100 million. It invests in the form of senior secured loans, mezzanine loans, and equity securities. It may also seek investments in thinly traded public companies and also make secondary investments. The fund makes non-control equity investments. It primarily exits within three years of the initial capital commitment.