High Yield Business Development Corporation Stocks Paying Over 9%

Income investors who are looking for a little speculation are taking a closer look at private equity firms and business development corporations. Private equity firms invest in the equity and often the debt of private companies. Usually private equity firms are not available to the general public. Yet based on the list of Private Equity Firms at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 20 that are publicly traded on the NYSE or NASDAQ, with yields ranging from 3% to 14%. Several of these companies are registered as Business Development Corporations.

A Business Development Corporation, also known as a Business Development Company or BDC, is a publicly traded private equity fund. Many private equity companies are registered as BDCs for tax advantages, generally paying no corporate income tax because at least 90 percent of their income, profits, and capital gains are paid out as taxable dividends to investors.

TICC Capital (TICC) is a BDC that has been paying dividends quarterly since 2004, and yields 12%. The stock has a price to earnings ratio of 7 and a similar forward PE. The company invests in secured and unsecured senior debt, subordinated debt, junior subordinated debt, preferred stock, and common stock of both private and public companies, specializing in technology, media, telecommunications, and medical equipment. The company's investments include NetQuote, Inc., the web-based portal for insurance companies and consumers, and StayOnline, Inc. a provider of wireless high-speed Internet access solutions for the lodging industry, and Ai Squared, a manufacturer of assistive technology software which makes the screen magnification program ZoomText.

PennantPark Investment (PNNT) is a business development company that yields 10.4%, and has been paying quarterly dividends since June of 2007. The company invests between $10 million and $50 million in each of its portfolio companies, holding mezzanine debt, senior secured loans, and equity investments. The stock trades at 8.3 times current earnings and has a forward price to earnings ratio of 8.2. PennantPark invests in such companies as the hot tub and spa manufacturer Jacuzzi Brands Corp., Learning Care Group, Inc. which is owner of one of the largest early education and child care providers La Petite Academy, and VPSI, the world's largest vanpool service provider.

To see a list of over 20 high yield business development companies and private equity firms, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Several of these companies pay dividends monthly and more than a dozen have yields above 8%.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Venture Capital Investment with a 7.2% Yield

Private equity companies take large positions in private companies, and sometimes own the entire companies. Often, these companies are referred to as venture capital firms. Sometimes, the only way to invest in a 'hot' company is through a private equity company. As an example, many years ago, I invested in a company called the Nautilus Fund, which happened to own an equity position in some small privately owned technology company with the odd name of Apple (AAPL).

At the time, I was using an Apple II computer with the Visicalc spreadsheet program. I couldn't believe that calculations could be done so easily on a small machine and then printed out. I was working for an investment firm at the time and wanted to invest in this little Apple company, but unfortunately, it wasn't publicly traded. Fortunately, I read in a Forbes article that a publicly traded venture capital company called the Nautilus Fund, had an equity interest in Apple. So to make a long story short, I bought some Nautilus for myself and some relatives, Apple went public, and Apple shares were spun off to the Nautilus shareholders.

Of course, investing in private equity can be very risky, which is why most private private equity firms are private. The few publicly traded ones gives smaller investors an opportunity to participate in this potentially very lucrative investment arena. To cut down on risk, many investors seek out the ones that invest in debt of private companies in addition to equity, so that income can be generated for the shareholders.

An example is Gladstone Capital Corporation (GLAD), which is structured as a closed-end management investment company. The company diversifies its portfolio by investing in both equity and debt securities, and allocating funds towards both small and medium-sized private companies. Gladstone, which has paid monthly dividends for many years, generates a yield of 7.2%. The stock trades at 12.8 times forward earnings and sells for about 3.5% below book value.

Gladstone provides financing for a very diverse portfolio of companies across many industries, including Country Club Enterprises which is the sole distributor of Club Car and E-Z-Go golf carts in the northeast U.S., Legend Communications of Wyoming which is the largest radio operator in their region, Reliable Biopharmaceutical which is a manufacturer of high value advanced pharmaceutical and biochemical products for the generic injectable pharmaceutical industry, Cavert Wire which is the largest supplier of non-galvanized bailing wire in the country, Newhall Laboratories which markets La Bella™, Golden Sun™, and Rebound™ personal care products, B-Dry which is the oldest basement waterproofer in the U.S., Access Television Network which distributes infomercials and other paid programming through about 300 cable television systems, and Westlake Hardware which is the largest member of the ACE Hardware Corporation buying cooperative.

Gladstone's earning announcement will be held November 22.

If you like high yield stocks, such as REITs, utilities, and ETFs, check out the free downloadable lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns AAPL at the time the article is written.

By Stockerblog.com