Define the inputs before comparing.
NAV per share represents the common net-asset base divided by the applicable common-share count under the issuer disclosure. The market price is a traded quotation at a different moment. The difference between the two is a valuation relationship, not a promised gain. A BDC invests in loans and other securities, and a disclosed fair-value estimate may differ from a later realization. Use the same share class and currency for both inputs.
The calculation.
Price/NAV = entered market price per common share / common NAV per share. Signed premium or discount = (price/NAV − 1) × 100. Price less NAV = entered price − NAV. A negative signed percentage is a discount; a positive value is a premium. Positive NAV is required for the first two ratios.
Formula version bdc-1.0.2. Decimal arithmetic uses 40 significant digits without intermediate display rounding. Arithmetic precision does not increase the accuracy of the source inputs. Display rounds half up to four decimal places; nonzero values smaller than 0.0001 retain five significant digits. Plain decimals are used through 24 fractional places; longer tiny values use scientific notation. Blank or unavailable inputs stay missing; zero denominators produce “Not defined” with a reason.
Reproduce the arithmetic.
Synthetic per-share illustration in USD: an entered price of 18 and common NAV per share of 20 produce price/NAV of 0.9000× and a signed discount of −10.0000%. Price less NAV is −2.0000. If price is 22 with NAV unchanged at 20, the signed result is a +10.0000% premium. This is not the same as the return needed to rise from 18 to 20, which would use 18 as its denominator.
How to use: find and match the inputs
Find the common NAV per share in the financial statements, statement of assets and liabilities or financial highlights. Record the reporting date, share class, issuer calculation and any later distribution or issuance affecting comparability. Record the market-price date and source in the price input note. There is no automatic quote service: the reader supplies both values. The common as-of context is an analysis date and must be on or after the reporting period end. NAV is a stock measure at its disclosed balance-sheet snapshot date, not income over the entered period. The market quote can have a different observation date: retain both the NAV snapshot date and the actual quote date in their respective source locators. The analysis date does not make these two observations contemporaneous and does not relabel either as a period-end quote.
Record each source URL, accession if applicable, table or note location, original period and scale. Preserve the issuer definition. The source record below each result distinguishes manual entry from review: no reviewer or review date is invented.
Interpret the result with its denominator.
A discount can reflect expected losses, expenses, financing conditions, management incentives, liquidity or the market assessment of the valuation process. It is not an automatic bargain. A premium is not proof of overvaluation. Compare valuation dates and the underlying portfolio rather than treating the ratio as a trading signal. Investor.gov explains that publicly traded BDC prices can be above or below NAV; the calculator only quantifies this relationship for your inputs.
Assumptions and limitations
No appraisal, target price or expected return is produced. NAV can become stale and the price can move after entry. The tool does not adjust for subsequent distributions, rights issues, stock splits, FX or changes in portfolio value. Zero or negative NAV makes a conventional premium/discount ratio unhelpful and is shown as undefined while the arithmetic price-minus-NAV difference remains visible.
No automatic currency, share-count, quarter/YTD or adjusted-to-reported conversion occurs. The common context is a user assertion, not evidence that pasted figures match. Check each original disclosure yourself; a manual input is not a verified company result.
Questions worth asking.
Is a 20% discount a guaranteed 20% gain?
No. NAV and price can both change, and the discount need not close.
Does this tool fetch a current share price?
No. Every figure is entered by the reader; the initial example is synthetic.
Primary sources and corrections.
- Investor.gov: publicly traded BDCs ↗
- SEC EDGAR: find the original filing ↗
- Issuer filing: PIK recognition and non-accrual accounting policy (definitions, not example data) ↗
Sources explain the definitions and disclosure context; the synthetic numbers above do not come from these issuers. See our editorial approach or submit a correction with the field, source location and reproducible calculation.