Oaktree Specialty Lending (OCSL) Competitors

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

Which has higher valuation & earnings, OCSL or ARCC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Oaktree Specialty Lending. Ares Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oaktree Specialty Lending, 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
Oaktree Specialty Lending	$35.77M	34.48	$57.90M	$0.56	25.00
Ares Capital	$1.50B	10.52	$1.52B	$2.05	10.93

Does the media favor OCSL or ARCC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 12 more articles in the media than Oaktree Specialty Lending. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Ares Capital and 3 mentions for Oaktree Specialty Lending. Oaktree Specialty Lending's average media sentiment score of 1.65 beat Ares Capital's score of 1.47 indicating that Oaktree Specialty Lending is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Oaktree Specialty Lending	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Ares Capital	11 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of OCSL or ARCC?

36.8% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.4% of Ares Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Oaktree Specialty Lending shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Ares Capital shares are held 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, OCSL or ARCC?

Oaktree Specialty Lending has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Capital has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is OCSL or ARCC a better dividend stock?

Oaktree Specialty Lending pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.4%. Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. Oaktree Specialty Lending pays out 285.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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.

Is OCSL or ARCC more profitable?

Ares Capital has a net margin of 44.94% compared to Oaktree Specialty Lending's net margin of 13.84%. Oaktree Specialty Lending's return on equity of 10.94% beat Ares Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oaktree Specialty Lending	13.84%	10.94%	5.23%
Ares Capital	44.94%	10.48%	5.00%

Do analysts prefer OCSL or ARCC?

Oaktree Specialty Lending presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.14%. Ares Capital has a consensus target price of $22.86, indicating a potential upside of 2.04%. Given Oaktree Specialty Lending's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Oaktree Specialty Lending is more favorable than Ares Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oaktree Specialty Lending	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Ares Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Summary

Ares Capital beats Oaktree Specialty Lending on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.