Hercules Capital (HTGC) Competitors

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

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

19.7% of Hercules Capital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.4% of Ares Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Hercules Capital shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Ares Capital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer HTGC or ARCC?

Hercules Capital presently has a consensus target price of $20.08, indicating a potential upside of 3.90%. Ares Capital has a consensus target price of $22.21, indicating a potential downside of 4.29%. Given Hercules Capital's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hercules Capital is more favorable than Ares Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hercules Capital	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 HTGC or ARCC more profitable?

Hercules Capital has a net margin of 45.23% compared to Ares Capital's net margin of 43.50%. Hercules Capital's return on equity of 16.84% beat Ares Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hercules Capital	45.23%	16.84%	8.53%
Ares Capital	43.50%	11.05%	5.25%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, HTGC or ARCC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Hercules Capital. Ares Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hercules 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
Hercules Capital	$310.72M	10.91	$262.97M	$1.33	14.53
Ares Capital	$2.99B	5.39	$1.52B	$2.05	11.32

Which has more volatility and risk, HTGC or ARCC?

Hercules Capital has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Capital has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HTGC or ARCC a better dividend stock?

Hercules Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Hercules Capital pays out 120.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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. Hercules Capital has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Hercules Capital is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer HTGC or ARCC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 20 more articles in the media than Hercules Capital. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Ares Capital and 6 mentions for Hercules Capital. Hercules Capital's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Ares Capital's score of 1.10 indicating that Hercules Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hercules Capital	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ares Capital	17 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Hercules Capital beats Ares Capital on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.