MAIN vs PSEC Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Main Street Capital and Prospect Capital by dividend track record, NAV stability, and portfolio credit quality.
Use this Main Street Capital vs Prospect Capital comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
MAIN holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MAIN has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+6.84% vs -25.47%), though PSEC has the better forward P/E setup (6.37x vs 14.92x for MAIN). MAIN leads on both revenue growth (3.90%) and operating margin (87.21%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MAIN (+2.69%) than for PSEC (-10.31%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | MAIN | PSEC |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 43.2 | 24.2 |
| AI ranki | #1483 | N/A |
| Latest closei | $56.30 | $1.62 |
| 1M returni | +2.66% | -17.13% |
| 3M returni | +2.98% | -22.61% |
| 6M returni | +5.10% | -34.13% |
| 1Y returni | +6.84% | -25.47% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MAIN | PSEC |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.52K (+15.2%) started 2025-11-03 | $9.48K (-5.2%) started 2025-11-03 |
| 5Y ago | $30.56K (+205.6%) started 2021-11-03 | $10.44K (+4.4%) started 2021-11-03 |
| 10Y ago | $114.77K (+1047.7%) started 2016-11-03 | $91.71K (+817.1%) started 2016-11-03 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MAIN | PSEC |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $5.42B | $1.14B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 11.63 | 37.17 |
| Forward P/Ei | 14.92 | 6.37 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 13.75 | 7.09 |
| Analyst targeti | $59.50 | $2.00 |
| Target upsidei | +2.69% | -10.31% |
| Metric | MAIN | PSEC |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 3.90% | -6.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 15.30% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +15.30% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +43.17% | +37.69% |
| Operating margini | 87.21% | 70.34% |
| Profit margini | 78.49% | 24.03% |
| ROIC proxyi | 14.92% | 3.37% |
| Return on equityi | 14.92% | 3.37% |
| Dividend yieldi | 5.49% | 18.96% |
| Payout ratioi | 86.14% | 866.67% |
| Dividend growth streaki | 5 yrs | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.72 | 0.78 |
| Debt/equityi | 80.34 | 41.32 |
| Current ratioi | 1.69 | 1.09 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.03 | 1.04 |
Over the past year, MAIN and PSEC have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.51), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MAIN | PSEC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +6.40% | -24.04% |
| CAGRi | +6.42% | -24.11% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.36% | 36.98% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.19 | -0.69 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.28 | -0.95 | |
| Max drawdowni | 21.33% | 45.22% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.53% | 38.23% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.67% | 14.94% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 11.40% | 18.09% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.56% | 10.18% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.61% | 20.73% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +89.91% | -60.81% |
| CAGRi | +13.70% | -17.09% | |
| Volatilityi | 21.85% | 29.30% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.49 | -0.65 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.68 | -0.87 | |
| Max drawdowni | 27.06% | 68.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 64.34% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.38% | 27.33% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.58% | 32.37% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.96% | 14.53% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.42% | 20.73% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +271.84% | -24.03% |
| CAGRi | +14.04% | -2.71% | |
| Volatilityi | 27.48% | 28.08% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.45 | -0.12 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.63 | -0.16 | |
| Max drawdowni | 64.53% | 68.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 64.34% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.88% | 20.31% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.34% | 25.54% | |
| Max daily dropi | 21.93% | 15.83% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 45.65% | 20.73% |
| Category | MAIN | PSEC |
|---|---|---|
| Company | MAIN | PSEC |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Asset Management | Asset Management |
| Core business | Main Street Capital Corporation is a business development company and a small business investment company specializing in direct and indirect investments. | Prospect Capital Corporation is a Private Equity, Private Debt and business development company. |
Compare more than two at a time
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AI score, forward P/E, analyst target upside, operating margin, and revenue growth are scored head-to-head, with a running tally of which ticker leads on how many metrics.
Volatility, Sharpe and Sortino ratios, maximum, current, and average drawdown, Ulcer Index, and worst single-day and single-week drops across every timeframe.
Pairwise daily-return correlation for every combination, so you can see whether two holdings actually diversify each other or just move together.
A scatter plot of forward P/E against return on equity, plus drawdown and 30-day rolling volatility charts, to separate what is cheap from what is merely beaten down.
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