New Mountain Finance (NMFC) Competitors

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) and New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and media sentiment.

Does the media favor ARCC or NMFC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 10 more articles in the media than New Mountain Finance. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Ares Capital and 4 mentions for New Mountain Finance. New Mountain Finance's average media sentiment score of 1.72 beat Ares Capital's score of 1.27 indicating that New Mountain Finance is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ares Capital	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
New Mountain Finance	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, ARCC or NMFC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than New Mountain Finance. Ares Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New Mountain Finance, 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	$1.50B	10.48	$1.52B	$2.05	10.89
New Mountain Finance	$89.05M	12.41	$113.44M	$0.76	13.67

Do analysts rate ARCC or NMFC?

Ares Capital presently has a consensus target price of $22.86, indicating a potential upside of 2.41%. New Mountain Finance has a consensus target price of $10.75, indicating a potential upside of 3.46%. Given New Mountain Finance's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe New Mountain Finance is more favorable than Ares Capital.

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
New Mountain Finance	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is ARCC or NMFC a better dividend stock?

Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. New Mountain Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.3%. 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. New Mountain Finance pays out 168.4% 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 more volatility and risk, ARCC or NMFC?

Ares Capital has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, New Mountain Finance has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ARCC or NMFC more profitable?

Ares Capital has a net margin of 44.94% compared to New Mountain Finance's net margin of 23.27%. Ares Capital's return on equity of 10.48% beat New Mountain Finance's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ares Capital	44.94%	10.48%	5.00%
New Mountain Finance	23.27%	10.43%	4.32%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ARCC or NMFC?

27.4% of Ares Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.1% of New Mountain Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Ares Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of New Mountain Finance shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ares Capital beats New Mountain Finance on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.