Comparing Brooge Energy (NASDAQ:BROG) and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) and Brooge Energy (NASDAQ:BROG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Brooge Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	60.60%	12.57%	6.36%
Brooge Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Brooge Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	$275.66 million	6.42	$231.01 million	$3.10	6.38
Brooge Energy	$81.54 million	1.87	$27.23 million	N/A	N/A

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has higher revenue and earnings than Brooge Energy.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.5% of Brooge Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 85.6% of Brooge Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Brooge Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	0	5	1	0	2.17
Brooge Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending currently has a consensus price target of $21.42, suggesting a potential upside of 8.27%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is more favorable than Brooge Energy.

Summary

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending beats Brooge Energy on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.

About Brooge Energy

Brooge Energy Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides oil storage and related services at the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It operates phase I and phase II facilities comprising 22 tanks with a capacity of approximately 1,001,388 cubic meters for offering storage, heating, and blending of fuel oil and clean petroleum products, including aviation fuel, gas oil, gasoline, marine gas oil, and naphtha. The company was formerly known as Brooge Holdings Limited and changed its name to Brooge Energy Limited in April 2020. Brooge Energy Limited was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.