# Capital Southwest Corporation (CSWC) fundamentals

Data as of 2026-09-08. NASDAQ, United States. Sector: Financial Services / Capital Markets. Price $24.58, market value $1.6 billion.

## Valuation
- **P/E (trailing): 13.6×** (5-yr avg 9.4×, 3-yr avg 11.2×). Capital Southwest Corporation trades at 13.6× trailing earnings, well above its own five-year average of 9.4×: investors are paying up relative to the company's past. The Financial Services median in the September 2026 study was 13.1×. Forward P/E is 10.5×, lower than trailing, so analysts expect earnings to grow.
- **PEG: 0.36**. A PEG of 0.36 means the P/E is low relative to expected earnings growth: the market is not paying much for that growth.
- **Price / sales: 144.6×**. Each dollar of revenue is priced at 144.6×, a level that requires very high margins or very fast growth to justify.
- **Price / book: 1.5×**. The shares trade at 1.5× book value; book value is a meaningful part of the valuation.
- **Free-cash-flow yield: -19.5%** (5-yr avg -35.5%). Free cash flow is negative: the business is consuming cash, which is normal for heavy investment phases but a warning otherwise.
- **Earnings yield: 7.4%**. The inverse of the P/E: 7.4% of the price is earned each year.

## Profitability
- **Return on equity: 11.2%**. 11.2% on shareholders' equity is solid.

## Growth
- **EPS growth (1 yr): 29.3%** (3-yr -6.0%/yr, 5-yr 2.7%/yr). Earnings per share rose 29.3%.

## Financial health
- **Piotroski F-score: 2/9**. 2 of 9 checks pass: weak or deteriorating financials.
- **Cash and short-term investments: $29 million**. Leverage ratios are shown differently for banks and insurers, whose balance sheets are built on deposits and reserves; use return on equity and the regulatory capital in the filings instead.

## Dividends
- **Dividend yield: 12.37%** ($2.32 per share, trailing). Capital Southwest Corporation yields 12.37%, high enough to check carefully: yields this high often precede a cut.
- **Payout ratio: 130%**. The dividend exceeds earnings (130% payout), which is rarely sustainable outside REITs and one-off years.
- **Consecutive years of increases: 3**. 3 straight years of increases.
- **Dividend growth (5 yr): 4.6%/yr** (1-yr 1.1%). The dividend has grown 4.6% a year over five years.

## Analyst view
- **Analyst consensus: buy** (5 analysts). 5 analysts cover Capital Southwest Corporation; the consensus is buy, with an average price target of $25.30 (+3% from the current price). Analyst opinion is shown for context; it is not part of the Fundamental Score.

## Price and momentum
- **Total return (1 yr): 18.7%** (YTD 18.3%, 3-mo 7.9%). The shares are up 18.7% over twelve months including dividends.
- **From 52-week high: -4.5%** (26.9% above the low). Trading within 5% of its 52-week high.
- **200-day average: above**. The price sits above its 200-day moving average, the usual definition of an uptrend.
- **RSI (14-day): 47**. An RSI of 47 is neutral.
- **Beta (1 yr): 0.67** (volatility 20%). Beta of 0.67 against the S&P 500: the shares move much less than the market.

Live score and charts: https://foliofundamentals.com/analyzer?s=CSWC · Page: https://foliofundamentals.com/stocks/cswc

Not investment advice.