Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) Competitors

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) and Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Does the media favor BXSL or ARCC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 25 more articles in the media than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Ares Capital and 2 mentions for Blackstone Secured Lending Fund. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Ares Capital's score of 1.08 indicating that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ares Capital	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, BXSL or ARCC?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Capital has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, BXSL or ARCC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund 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
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	$1.33B	5.38	$694.10M	$3.17	9.88
Ares Capital	$2.99B	5.00	$1.52B	$2.05	10.50

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

36.5% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.4% of Ares Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is BXSL or ARCC a better dividend stock?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.8%. Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.9%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays out 97.2% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer BXSL or ARCC?

Ares Capital received 392 more outperform votes than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.59% of users gave Ares Capital an outperform vote while only 54.90% of users gave Blackstone Secured Lending Fund an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	Outperform Votes 28 54.90%	Underperform Votes 23 45.10%
Ares Capital	Outperform Votes 420 62.59%	Underperform Votes 251 37.41%

Do analysts rate BXSL or ARCC?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund currently has a consensus target price of $31.38, suggesting a potential upside of 0.17%. Ares Capital has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.23%. Given Ares Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ares Capital is more favorable than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Ares Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Is BXSL or ARCC more profitable?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a net margin of 47.80% compared to Ares Capital's net margin of 43.50%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's return on equity of 12.49% beat Ares Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	47.80%	12.49%	5.67%
Ares Capital	43.50%	11.05%	5.25%

Summary

Ares Capital beats Blackstone Secured Lending Fund on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.