Goldman Sachs BDC (GSBD) Competitors

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) and Goldman Sachs BDC (NYSE:GSBD) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.

Which has better earnings and valuation, ARCC or GSBD?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Goldman Sachs BDC. Ares Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Goldman Sachs BDC, 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	5.40	$1.52B	$2.05	11.34
Goldman Sachs BDC	$434.37M	3.23	$62.87M	$0.45	26.59

Is ARCC or GSBD a better dividend stock?

Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Goldman Sachs BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.7%. 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. Goldman Sachs BDC pays out 284.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Does the media refer more to ARCC or GSBD?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 25 more articles in the media than Goldman Sachs BDC. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Ares Capital and 2 mentions for Goldman Sachs BDC. Ares Capital's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Goldman Sachs BDC's score of 0.98 indicating that Ares Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ares Capital	17 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Goldman Sachs BDC	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in ARCC or GSBD?

27.4% of Ares Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.7% of Goldman Sachs BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Ares Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Goldman Sachs BDC shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, ARCC or GSBD?

Ares Capital has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Goldman Sachs BDC has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ARCC or GSBD more profitable?

Ares Capital has a net margin of 43.50% compared to Goldman Sachs BDC's net margin of 12.38%. Goldman Sachs BDC's return on equity of 15.05% beat Ares Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ares Capital	43.50%	11.05%	5.25%
Goldman Sachs BDC	12.38%	15.05%	6.64%

Do analysts rate ARCC or GSBD?

Ares Capital currently has a consensus target price of $22.21, indicating a potential downside of 4.45%. Goldman Sachs BDC has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.29%. Given Goldman Sachs BDC's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Goldman Sachs BDC is more favorable than Ares Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ares Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Goldman Sachs BDC	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Summary

Ares Capital beats Goldman Sachs BDC on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.