Ares Capital (ARCC) Competitors

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) and Golub Capital BDC (NASDAQ:GBDC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Which has more risk & volatility, ARCC or GBDC?

Ares Capital has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golub Capital BDC has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ARCC or GBDC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Golub Capital BDC. Golub Capital BDC is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ares Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ares Capital	$2.99B	4.81	$1.52B	$2.05	9.95
Golub Capital BDC	$397.72M	9.20	$273.79M	$1.42	9.68

Is ARCC or GBDC more profitable?

Ares Capital has a net margin of 44.94% compared to Golub Capital BDC's net margin of 42.81%. Golub Capital BDC's return on equity of 10.87% beat Ares Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ares Capital	44.94%	10.48%	5.00%
Golub Capital BDC	42.81%	10.87%	4.87%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ARCC or GBDC?

27.4% of Ares Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.4% of Golub Capital BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Ares Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Golub Capital BDC shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ARCC or GBDC a better dividend stock?

Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. Golub Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.4%. Ares Capital pays out 93.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Golub Capital BDC pays out 109.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Does the media prefer ARCC or GBDC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 9 more articles in the media than Golub Capital BDC. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Ares Capital and 5 mentions for Golub Capital BDC. Golub Capital BDC's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Ares Capital's score of 0.49 indicating that Golub Capital BDC is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ares Capital	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Golub Capital BDC	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend ARCC or GBDC?

Ares Capital currently has a consensus target price of $22.86, indicating a potential upside of 12.10%. Golub Capital BDC has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.17%. Given Ares Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ares Capital is more favorable than Golub Capital BDC.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ares Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Golub Capital BDC	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

Ares Capital beats Golub Capital BDC on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.