Critical Contrast: CION Investment (NYSE:CION) vs. Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 (NASDAQ:CCTS)

Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 (NASDAQ:CCTS) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION) are both small-cap unclassified companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 has a beta of 0.01, suggesting that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CION Investment has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 and CION Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1	0	0	0	0	N/A
CION Investment	0	1	0	0	2.00

CION Investment has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.93%. Given CION Investment’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CION Investment is more favorable than Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 and CION Investment”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CION Investment	$138.48 million	4.60	$95.31 million	$2.44	4.87

CION Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1.

Profitability

This table compares Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 and CION Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1	N/A	N/A	N/A
CION Investment	48.50%	12.39%	5.48%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.4% of Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.0% of CION Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 58.3% of Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of CION Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CION Investment beats Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1

Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 Limited does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the emerging technology sector. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Cranbury, New Jersey.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies. The firm invests in growth capital, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, market/product expansion, refinancing and recapitalization. The fund also invests up to 30 percent of their assets opportunistically in other types of investments, including the securities of larger public companies and foreign securities. It also makes investments in the secondary loan market. The fund does not invest in start-up companies, turnaround situations, or companies with speculative business plans. The fund prefers to invest in high tech industries, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, business services, media, chemicals, plastic, rubber, telecommunication, consumer services, advertising, printing and publishing, consumer goods, durables, diversified financials, and other industries. It also invests in homebuilding, restaurants, beverage and tobacco bars, broadcasting, distributors, Non-durable good distribution, food beverage and tobacco, energy, oil gas and consumables fuels, insurance, aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, paper and forest product machinery, information technology, metals and mining, and real estate. It primarily seeks to invest in the United States. The fund seeks to invest between $5 million and $50 million in companies with an EBITDA between $25 million and $75 million with average targeted hold of $25 million. It also purchases minority interests in the form of common or preferred equity in the target companies, typically in conjunction with its debt investments or through a co-investment with a financial sponsor. The fund seeks to exit its investments through an initial public offering of common stock, a merger, a sale, or other recapitalization.