BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III (NYSE:MYI) & John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) Financial Review

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III (NYSE:MYI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	$142.41 million	4.10	N/A	N/A	N/A
BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III	$38.59 million	19.18	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	0	0	0	1	4.00
BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund and BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.5% of John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.0% of BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III shares are owned 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.

Dividends

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III pays an annual dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%.

Summary

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund beats BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It seeks to invest in the stocks of companies operating across the financial services sector. The fund invests in companies across all market capitalizations. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P Composite 1500 Banks Index. The fund was formerly known as John Hancock Bank and Thrift Opportunity Fund. John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund was formed on August 23, 1994 and is domiciled in the United States.

About BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III

BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. It is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It invests primarily in a portfolio of long-term investment-grade municipal obligations exempt from federal income taxes. BlackRock MuniYield Quality Fund III, Inc. was formed in April 13, 1992 and is domiciled in United States.