Barings Bdc (BBDC) Competitors

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) and Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is ARCC or BBDC more profitable?

Ares Capital has a net margin of 44.94% compared to Barings Bdc's net margin of 35.67%. Ares Capital's return on equity of 10.48% beat Barings Bdc's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ares Capital	44.94%	10.48%	5.00%
Barings Bdc	35.67%	9.76%	4.26%

Is ARCC or BBDC a better dividend stock?

Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. Barings Bdc pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.1%. 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. Barings Bdc pays out 108.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Barings Bdc has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Barings Bdc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer ARCC or BBDC?

Ares Capital presently has a consensus target price of $22.86, indicating a potential upside of 13.60%. Barings Bdc has a consensus target price of $9.67, indicating a potential upside of 12.53%. Given Ares Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ares Capital is more favorable than Barings 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)	2.80
Barings Bdc	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media prefer ARCC or BBDC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 12 more articles in the media than Barings Bdc. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Ares Capital and 0 mentions for Barings Bdc. Ares Capital's average media sentiment score of 0.51 beat Barings Bdc's score of 0.00 indicating that Ares Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Ares Capital	Positive
Barings Bdc	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in ARCC or BBDC?

27.4% of Ares Capital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.1% of Barings Bdc shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Ares Capital shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Barings Bdc shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, ARCC or BBDC?

Ares Capital has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barings Bdc has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, ARCC or BBDC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Barings Bdc. Barings 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	4.75	$1.52B	$2.05	9.81
Barings Bdc	$286.17M	3.16	$110.29M	$0.96	8.95

Summary

Ares Capital beats Barings Bdc on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.