Ares Capital (ARCC) Competitors $20.08 +0.14 (+0.70%) Closing price 10/24/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$20.07 -0.01 (-0.05%) As of 10/24/2025 07:50 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestTrendsBuy This Stock ARCC vs. GBDC, OCSL, EPD, FSK, HTGC, MAIN, OBDC, TSLX, AMP, and STTShould you be buying Ares Capital stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Ares Capital include Golub Capital BDC (GBDC), Oaktree Specialty Lending (OCSL), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), FS KKR Capital (FSK), Hercules Capital (HTGC), Main Street Capital (MAIN), Blue Owl Capital (OBDC), Sixth Street Specialty Lending (TSLX), Ameriprise Financial (AMP), and State Street (STT). Ares Capital vs. Its Competitors Golub Capital BDC Oaktree Specialty Lending Enterprise Products Partners FS KKR Capital Hercules Capital Main Street Capital Blue Owl Capital Sixth Street Specialty Lending Ameriprise Financial State Street Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) and Golub Capital BDC (NASDAQ:GBDC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation. Which has more volatility and risk, ARCC or GBDC? Ares Capital has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golub Capital BDC has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. 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 Capital44.94% 10.48% 5.00% Golub Capital BDC 42.81%10.87%4.87% Do analysts rate ARCC or GBDC? Ares Capital currently has a consensus price target of $22.63, indicating a potential upside of 12.67%. Golub Capital BDC has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.63%. Given Ares Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities 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) 8 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.80Golub Capital BDC 0 Sell rating(s) 2 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.50 Does the media favor ARCC or GBDC? In the previous week, Ares Capital had 9 more articles in the media than Golub Capital BDC. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Ares Capital and 6 mentions for Golub Capital BDC. Golub Capital BDC's average media sentiment score of 1.72 beat Ares Capital's score of 1.05 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 9 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 3 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 1 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Golub Capital BDC 4 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Very Positive 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 9.6%. Golub Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.0%. 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. Which has higher valuation & earnings, ARCC or GBDC? Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Golub Capital BDC. Ares Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Golub Capital BDC, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioAres Capital$2.99B4.74$1.52B$2.059.80Golub Capital BDC$724.68M5.22$273.79M$1.4210.00 Do insiders & institutionals believe in 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 endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. SummaryAres Capital beats Golub Capital BDC on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Ares Capital News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for ARCC and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Subscribe Now View SMS TermsBy entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy. New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ARCC and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart ARCC vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricAres CapitalFIN IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$14.16B$1.38B$12.76B$10.81BDividend Yield9.56%12.50%5.54%4.80%P/E Ratio9.809.4821.9325.53Price / Sales4.7435.0530.05133.12Price / Cash9.119.6822.5761.86Price / Book1.010.852.206.61Net Income$1.52B$152.42M$1.02B$277.10M7 Day Performance2.92%2.56%1.62%2.57%1 Month Performance-2.33%-3.34%0.33%3.79%1 Year Performance-6.95%-13.58%538.12%33.01% Ares Capital Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ARCCAres Capital3.3835 of 5 stars$20.08+0.7%$22.63+12.7%-7.3%$14.16B$2.99B9.802,550Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsGBDCGolub Capital BDC1.9855 of 5 stars$14.05-0.1%$15.00+6.8%-8.7%$3.75B$724.68M9.89N/APositive NewsAnalyst ForecastOCSLOaktree Specialty Lending2.1439 of 5 stars$13.88+0.1%$15.00+8.1%-14.0%$1.22B$381.67M24.79N/AAnalyst ForecastEPDEnterprise Products Partners4.4683 of 5 stars$31.03+0.9%$35.82+15.4%+6.8%$66.60B$56.22B11.537,800Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastOptions VolumeFSKFS KKR Capital3.3319 of 5 stars$15.09-0.2%$17.75+17.7%-26.6%$0.00$1.72B19.34N/AAnalyst DowngradeHTGCHercules Capital3.2822 of 5 stars$17.55-1.0%$20.42+16.4%-11.9%$3.22B$493.59M11.62100Upcoming EarningsMAINMain Street Capital1.8162 of 5 stars$57.52-0.8%$60.40+5.0%+11.1%$5.18B$541.03M9.4890OBDCBlue Owl Capital3.3851 of 5 stars$12.97+0.0%$15.21+17.3%-14.2%$6.62B$1.60B8.59N/ATrending NewsAnalyst DowngradeShort Interest ↑Analyst RevisionTSLXSixth Street Specialty Lending3.1192 of 5 stars$21.85-0.3%$23.56+7.8%+8.3%$2.07B$482.53M10.87N/APositive NewsAnalyst ForecastAMPAmeriprise Financial4.7892 of 5 stars$472.46-1.4%$539.50+14.2%-4.8%$45.19B$17.26B14.7013,600Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastSTTState Street4.784 of 5 stars$113.15-1.1%$125.42+10.8%+26.4%$32.44B$22.13B11.9753,000Earnings ReportAnalyst Forecast Related Companies and Tools Related Companies GBDC Alternatives OCSL Alternatives EPD Alternatives FSK Alternatives HTGC Alternatives MAIN Alternatives OBDC Alternatives TSLX Alternatives AMP Alternatives STT Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NASDAQ:ARCC) was last updated on 10/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersIf You Keep Cash In A U.S. Bank Account… Read This NOWThe Treasury Department just issued a stunning warning: U.S. banks could lose up to $6.6 trillion of custom...Banyan Hill Publishing | SponsoredINVESTOR ALERT: Tiny “$3 AI Wonder Stock” on the Verge of Blasting OffRight now, we’re witnessing a monumental shift in the world.Traders Agency | SponsoredMove $1,000 into this stock before Nov 6The End of Tesla? 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