Analyzing Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) and BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC)

Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) and BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Bowhead Specialty and BlackRock TCP Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bowhead Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A
BlackRock TCP Capital	-15.22%	14.16%	5.80%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Bowhead Specialty and BlackRock TCP Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bowhead Specialty	0	2	3	0	2.60
BlackRock TCP Capital	1	3	0	0	1.75

Bowhead Specialty presently has a consensus price target of $33.60, suggesting a potential downside of 17.97%. BlackRock TCP Capital has a consensus price target of $8.67, suggesting a potential upside of 9.43%. Given BlackRock TCP Capital’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BlackRock TCP Capital is more favorable than Bowhead Specialty.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bowhead Specialty and BlackRock TCP Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bowhead Specialty	$425.59 million	3.14	N/A	N/A	N/A
BlackRock TCP Capital	-$45.40 million	-14.84	$38.47 million	($0.75)	-10.56

BlackRock TCP Capital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Bowhead Specialty.

Summary

Bowhead Specialty beats BlackRock TCP Capital on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bowhead Specialty

Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It underwrites casualty insurance solutions for risks in the construction, distribution, heavy manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality segments; professional liability insurance solutions for financial institutions, private and public directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions liability insurance, and cyber segments; and healthcare solutions for hospitals, senior care providers, managed care organizations, miscellaneous medical facilities, and healthcare management liability segments. The company distributes its products through distribution partners in wholesale and retail markets. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. was formerly known as Bowhead Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. in March 2024. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bowhead Insurance Holdings LP.

About BlackRock TCP Capital

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, small businesses, debt securities, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It typically invests in communication services, public relations services, television, wireless telecommunication services, apparel, textile mills, restaurants, retailing, energy, oil and gas extraction, Patent owners and Lessors, Federal and Federally- Sponsored Credit agencies, insurance, hospital and healthcare centers, Biotechnology, engineering services, heavy electrical equipment, tax accounting, scientific and related consulting services, charter freight air transportation, Information technology consulting, application hosting services, software diagram and design, computer aided design, communication equipment, electronics manufacturing equipment, computer components, chemicals. It seeks to invest in the United States. The fund typically invests between $10 million and $35 million in companies with enterprise values between $100 million and $1500 million including complex situations. It prefers to make equity investments in companies for an ownership stake.