Scaramucci: Bitcoin Is The Apex Predator, But Ethereum Will Be The Actual Store Of Value

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TipRanks

The crises of the past year – the COVID pandemic, the social lockdowns, the economic shock – are on the wane, and that’s good. However, the crisis post-mortems are rolling in. It’s only natural to compare the current economic crisis to the ‘Great Recession’ of 12 years ago, but as Oppenheimer’s chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus points out, “Considering the differences in what caused the Great Financial Crisis of a little more than 12 years ago… and the current crisis… it’s little wonder that as good as things are when compared to this time last year there remains much to be revealed as to how the exit and the legacy of the pandemic crisis will take shape…” Stoltzfus also believes that the economic data, while suffering some setbacks, is generally resilient. Markets are rising, and that, as Stoltzfus says, “…in our view likely presents more opportunity than risk for investors who have suitable tolerance for risk and who practice patience.” Taking Stoltzfus’ outlook into consideration, we wanted to take a closer look at two stocks earning a round of applause from Oppenheimer’s stock analysts. Using TipRanks’ database, we learned that both share a profile: a Strong Buy consensus rating from the Street’s analyst corps and a reliable dividend yielding at least 8%. Let’s see what Oppenheimer has to say about them. Owl Rock Capital (ORCC) We’ll start with Owl Rock Capital, one of the financial industry’s myriad specialty finance companies. These companies generally inhabit the middle-market finance sector, where they make available capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations, and general operations to mid-market companies that don’t necessarily have access to other sources of credit. Owl Rock’s portfolio consists of investments in 119 companies, totaling $11.3 billion. Of these investments, 96% are senior secured loans. Owl Rock reported its 4Q20, and full year results, at the end of February. The company saw Q4 net income of $180.7 million, which came out to 46 cents per share. This was up from 36 cents per share in 4Q19, a 27% increase. Also up was investment income, which at $221.3 million for the quarter was up 9% year-over-year. Full-year investment income was $803.3 million, up more than 11% from 2019. In addition, the company finished 2019 with over $27 billion in assets under management. Of particular interest to dividend investors, Owl Rock’s board declared a 31-cent per common share dividend for the first quarter. This is payable in mid-May, and matches the company’s previous regular dividend payments. The annualized rate of $1.24 gives a yield of 9%. Also of interest about Owl Rock’s dividend, the company paid out the sixth and final special dividend – related to the 2019 IPO launch – in this past December. In 2019, ORCC paid out for 80 cent special dividends, along with the regular dividend payments. The company has kept its dividend reliable, meeting both the regular and special payments, since going public in the summer of 2019. Owl Rock caught the attention of Oppenheimer’s Mitchel Penn, who sees the company as a solid investment with potential to beat the estimates. “We estimate EPS of $1.22 and $1.34 in 2021 and 2022 for an ROE of 8% and 9%, respectively. We project that Owl Rock can earn a 8.5% ROE, and given an estimated cost of equity capital of 8.5% we calculate a fair value of $15/share or 1.02x book value,” Penn noted. “To achieve an 8.5% ROE, ORCC will either need to increase its portfolio yield from 8.4% to 9.0% or increase its leverage from 1x to 1.2x. It’s also possible that it does a little of both. Our model accounts for the fee expense increase from a flat 75 bps to a base fee of 1.5% on assets and an incentive fee of 17.5% on income.” Penn rates this stock an Outperform (i.e., a Buy), and his $15 price target suggest a 7% upside potential from current levels. The dividend yield, however, is the true attraction here (To watch Penn’s track record, click here.) ORCC shares have attracted 3 recent reviews, and all are to Buy – which makes the Strong Buy consensus rating unanimous. This stock is selling for $13.98 per share and has an average price target of $14.71. (See ORCC stock analysis on TipRanks) Fidus Investment Corporation (FDUS) Sticking with the mid-market finance sector, we’ll take a look at Fidus Investment. This company, like Owl Rock, offers capital access to smaller firms, including access to debt solutions. Fidus has a portfolio that is based mainly on senior secured debt, along with mezzanine debt. The company that Fidus has invested in are valued between $10 million and $150 million. In the fourth quarter, rounding out 2020, Fidus invested in seven companies new to its portfolio, putting a total of $103.9 million into the investments. The company’s portfolio, for that quarter, brought in an adjusted net investment income of $10.7 million, or 25 cents per common share. This was up 3 cents, or 13%, year-over-year. For the full year 2020, the adjusted net income reached $38 million, up from $35.3 million in 2019. Per share, 2020’s $1.55 was up 7.6% yoy. Fidus’ shares have been climbing steadily in the past year. Since last April, the stock has gained an impressive 153%. This gives FDUS a solid share appreciation, to complement the dividend returns. Those dividends are substantial. The company declared its 1Q21 payment in February, and paid out on March 26. The regular payment, at 31 cents per common share, yields 8% with an annualized payout of $1.24. In addition to this regular payment, Fidus also declared a special dividend of 7 cents per share, nearly double the 4-cent special payment made in the previous quarter. Turning now to the Oppenheimer coverage on Fidus, we find that 5-star analyst Chris Kotowski is pleased with this company, enough to rate it an Outperform (i.e. Buy) with an $18 price target. This figure suggests a 15% one-year upside. (To watch Kotowski’s track record, click here) “The fundamentals [are] stable with debt investments at year-end essentially stable and interest income in line with both the prior quarter and our estimate…. What we are most pleased about is that we ended the year with only one small non-accrual. There was a significant loss during the year on one credit, which was crystallized in 4Q20, but there were also equity gains in 1Q20 that offset that, and in our mind, the fact that we end a year like this with minimal net losses validates FDUS’s business model.” Of Fidus’ dividend policy, maintaining a base payment with special dividends added on when possible, Kotowski writes simply, “We think a variable dividend makes a world of sense.” Like ORCC above, this is a stock with a unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating based on 3 recent positive reviews. Fidus’ shares are selling for $15.70 and their $17.17 average price target indicates a 9% upside potential from that level. (See FDUS stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

Here’s why there’s a ‘very big market’ for Ethereum

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While the Founder of SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci has been “singularly focused” on Bitcoin, he revealed his opinion on Ethereum today during a recent interview. The former White House Communications Director stated that there is a “very big market” for the largest altcoin. He predicted that the coin’s network has “good fundamentals and will grow.”

In fact, Scaramucci said that SkyBridge “certainly could” have an Ethereum-focused fund in the future. With regard to why he personally likes Ethereum, the exec remarked on the growing interest in NFTs based on Ethereum and the technology that surrounds it. He added:

The technology around Ethereum is going to make it a sticky cryptocurrency and a store of value and something people will transact with. I do like Ethereum… I am positive on Ethereum.

But stating that he is in an “institutionalist business” and that he “thinks like an institutionalist” and his “first step” is to focus on Bitcoin.

Scaramucci’s interest in Bitcoin may have become stronger after Skybridge Capital established a Bitcoin fund that grew alongside the crypto rally. The firm had invested about $310 million in Bitcoin during November and December last year, and within the first few weeks, the fund grew to $360 million dollars.

Since the real conundrum is in introducing new clients to cryptocurrency, Scaramucci would rather focus on Bitcoin, at least for now. Moreover, as the asset has grown in mainstream popularity this notion would help him move his 26,000 clients from zero exposure to crypto to at least one, such as Bitcoin.

Earlier Scaramucci even revealed his Bitcoin pitch to influence his potential clients to invest in the crypto. Speaking to the CNBC team he said:

For us, it’s [Bitcoin’s] the apex predator in the space. I tell my clients whether they like it or not, the world is moving into digitization. If they have a 1, 2, or 3% position they’re going to look at us as fiduciaries and think they were very well served by that.

Cryptocurrency Analyst Predicts Ethereum Breakout to Hit $3,285 and Bitcoin Bull Cycle to Top at $83,000

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Cryptocurrency used to be a bit shady for the public to take notice of but due to larger personalities like Elon Musk not only showing interest in cryptocurrency but also investing in it, the tides have changed. One of the more popular cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, has been gaining a lot of attention lately as prices break out at $2,000! On the other hand, Bitcoin is now expected to potentially hit $83,000!

Ethereum Price Prediction

Jacob Canfield, a crypto trader and analyst for signalprofits.com, gives a prediction on Twitter noting that the current trendline is supported with horizontal SR. There are nice sweeps of lows and liquidity still with a strong bullish engulfing.

Ethereum, especially, is strongly holding on to a key trendline support going along with the daily SR level on a positive 61.8% fib. The analyst then noted that if ever Ethereum really breaks out, he then expects that it would reach $2,650/$3,285 targets.

Bitcoin Price Prediction

Bitcoin, on the other hand, was estimated to top the bull cycle at $81,800 with a range of a whopping $78,000-$83,000. The cryptocurrency analyst then noted that it was derived using certain non-linear regression brands as well as the 76.01 Canfield Fibonacci extension confluence as its indicators.

Ethereum vs Bitcoin

Of course, the thing about cryptocurrency is that it is very volatile and that predictions made regarding its value are still to be taken with a grain of salt. With the fibonacci sequence as an indicator, however, Ethereum prices do show a possibility of hitting those target numbers if everything were to go smoothly.

Of course, this still highly depends on the market’s perception. As of the moment, more people are slowly looking towards cryptocurrency as a legitimate investment instead of the internet money taboo it once was. Aside from Bitcoin, Ethereum is another cryptocurrency that is getting more popular and has even been referred to as more stable in comparison to Bitcoin.

Is Ethereum Safer Than Bitcoin?

While there are thousands of other cryptocurrencies out there, fxempire notes that Ethereum is more stable in comparison to Bitcoin. The article, although, did its analogy based on data back in 2020, ajd still noted that the less aggressive volatility of Ethereum makes it a relatively safer cryptocurrency to invest in in comparison to Bitcoin.

Of course, it does not mean that because Ethereum might be showing less volatility, it is safer than Bitcoin. Ethereum itself still includes a level of risk that traders will have to be able to stomach if they really do decide to invest in this cryptocurrency. While the value of Ethereum and Bitcoin might be very far from each other, both of them are still very volatile in comparison to other fiat currencies like the USD or other stocks like what happened with GameStop.

Read Also: ‘Ethereum vs. Bitcoin:’ Ethereum Reaches $2,000 All Time High Record; Bitcoin Expects to Hit $80,000 by End of April

Ethereum Price chart

Jacob Canfield also provided a chart that supported his estimations but it is very important that traders and investors do their own research as well. For those really wanting to get into cryptocurrency trading, it is important to learn how to do research and become familiar with the right indicators which can be used to show how exactly is the Ethereum price moving.

$ETH - $BTC - Key trendline support with horizontal SR. Nice sweep of the lows and liquidity with a strong bullish engulfing$ETH - USDT - Holding to a key trendline support along with a daily SR level on the 61.8% fib

If #ethereum breakout, expecting $2,650 / $3,285 targets. pic.twitter.com/QV4IOzzIG9 — JacobCanfield (@Jac0bcanfield) April 6, 2021

My public estimate for #Bitcoin top for this bull cycle is $81,800 with a range of $78,000-$83,000 (depending on the exchange).

I derived this using non-linear regression bands and the 76.01 Canfield Fibonacci extension confluence.

What are your estimates for the top? pic.twitter.com/ZGAtXsBLI7 — JacobCanfield (@Jac0bcanfield) April 6, 2021

Related Article: Terry Crews Creates Own Cryptocurrency $POWER: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian Buenconsejo

TAG Ethereum, bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, crypto, Online

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