Main Street Capital (MAIN) Competitors

Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) 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 earnings, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Is MAIN or ARCC more profitable?

Main Street Capital has a net margin of 94.61% compared to Ares Capital's net margin of 43.50%. Main Street Capital's return on equity of 13.02% beat Ares Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Main Street Capital	94.61%	13.02%	6.95%
Ares Capital	43.50%	11.05%	5.25%

Does the media favor MAIN or ARCC?

In the previous week, Ares Capital had 3 more articles in the media than Main Street Capital. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Ares Capital and 13 mentions for Main Street Capital. Ares Capital's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Main Street Capital's score of 0.64 indicating that Ares Capital is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Main Street Capital	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ares Capital	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, MAIN or ARCC?

Ares Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Main Street Capital. Main Street Capital 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
Main Street Capital	$541.03M	10.36	$508.08M	$5.89	10.69
Ares Capital	$2.99B	5.30	$1.52B	$2.05	11.14

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in MAIN or ARCC?

20.3% of Main Street Capital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.4% of Ares Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of Main Street Capital 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, MAIN or ARCC?

Main Street Capital has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Capital has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer MAIN or ARCC?

Main Street Capital presently has a consensus target price of $52.80, suggesting a potential downside of 16.15%. Ares Capital has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.68%. Given Ares Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ares Capital is more favorable than Main Street Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Main Street Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Ares Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Is MAIN or ARCC a better dividend stock?

Main Street Capital pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Ares Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Main Street Capital pays out 52.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. Main Street Capital has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

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