ARCC vs OBDC vs HTGC Stock Comparison

Ares Capital, Blue Owl Capital and Hercules Capital Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARCC Ares Capital Corp
$18.53 -3.1% 1M -9.9% 1Y
Market cap
$13.71B
P/E
15.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.09B
Div. yield
–
Business Development Companies Financial Services
2 wins
OBDC Blue Owl Capital Corp
$10.14 -5.8% 1M -23.4% 1Y
Market cap
$5.19B
P/E
18.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.70B
Div. yield
0.15%
Business Development Companies Financial Services
2 wins
HTGC Hercules Capital, Inc.
$16.62 -1.7% 1M -7.9% 1Y
Market cap
$3.13B
P/E
8.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$566.17M
Div. yield
–
Business Development Companies Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Hercules Capital leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Hercules Capital 5, Ares Capital 2, Blue Owl Capital 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARCCOBDCHTGCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.71B $5.19B $3.13B ARCC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.7x 18.0x 8.2x HTGC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.4x 8.0x 9.0x OBDC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.3% -3.0% +12.3% HTGC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 28.3% 17.0% 67.7% HTGC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.15% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.9% -23.4% -7.9% HTGC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.9%/yr -6.8%/yr -1.2%/yr HTGC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.1% 24.2% 23.9% ARCC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 72/100 44/100 OBDC

Percentile Scorecard

ARCCOBDCHTGC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisARCCOBDCHTGC
Valuation 40 #102 of 169 80 #34 of 169 24 #128 of 169
Growth 67 #55 of 162 47 #86 of 162 83 #29 of 162
Profitability 60 #61 of 149 98 #4 of 149 47 #80 of 149
Financial Health 55 #72 of 158 63 #59 of 158 46 #86 of 158
Shareholder Returns 30 #95 of 136 70 #41 of 136 22 #106 of 136
Overall 50 72 44
  • ARCC ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • OBDC ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • HTGC ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodARCCOBDCHTGCSPY
1 month -3.1%-5.8%-1.7% +0.9%
3 months -1.0%-5.9%+4.1% +5.9%
6 months -0.7%-10.0%+7.2% +8.5%
Year to date -8.4%-18.4%-11.7% +13.3%
1 year -9.9%-23.4%-7.9% +12.4%
3 years -0.7%-22.2%+10.1% +88.1%
3 years, per year -0.2%-8.0%+3.3% +23.5%
5 years -13.6%-29.5%-5.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year -2.9%-6.8%-1.2% +11.0%
10 years +19.7%—+20.8% +263.4%
10 years, per year +1.8%—+1.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureARCCOBDCHTGCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.1%24.2%23.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.7%24.4%25.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.620.780.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.52-0.97-0.33 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.7%-41.4%-39.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.9%-24.8%-12.8% -0.9%
52-week high $21.03$13.48$19.05 $779.14
52-week low $17.45$9.88$13.89 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleARCCOBDCHTGC
P/E now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 11.4x 17.4xmedian 11.4x 8.0xmedian 11.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.7x 2.9xmedian 2.7x 5.5xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.3x —median 11.3x —median 11.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 6.9x 2.3xmedian 6.9x 369.3xmedian 6.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x 1.4xmedian 0.7x
PEG now vs peer median -0.85median 0.34 -0.49median 0.34 -2.20median 0.34

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsARCCOBDCHTGC
Revenue $3.09B $1.70B $566.17M
Net income $875.00M $288.63M $383.20M
Free cash flow $1.15B $2.21B $8.43M
EPS (diluted) $1.22 $0.58 $1.92
Cash & equivalents $722.00M – $48.18M
Total debt $15.12B $7.90B $2.34B
Shares (diluted) 720.00M 495.38M 199.58M
Enterprise value $11.46B $5.19B $2.96B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricARCCOBDCHTGC
P/E 15.2x 17.4x 8.0x
P/FCF 11.7x 2.3x 369.3x
P/Operating cash flow 11.7x 2.3x 365.8x
P/S 4.3x 2.9x 5.5x
P/B 1.0x 0.7x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 0.7x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA – – –
EV/EBIT – – –
EV/Revenue 9.0x 7.6x 9.5x
EV/FCF 24.3x 5.8x 640.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.3x 5.8x 634.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.85 -0.49 -2.20

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARCCOBDCHTGC
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.3% -3.0% 12.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 5.8% 11.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – –
Net income growth (1Y) -35.8% -56.9% 47.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -12.0% -30.4% 7.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -36.8% -55.6% 41.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -18.0% -35.7% -3.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 173.5% 47.9% 102.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 30.9% 47.7% 28.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 173.5% 47.9% 102.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 30.9% 47.7% 28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARCCOBDCHTGC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – – –
Pretax margin – – –
Net margin 28.3% 17.0% 67.7%
FCF margin 37.1% 129.9% 1.5%
Operating cash flow margin 37.1% 129.9% 1.5%
Return on equity – – –
Return on assets – – –
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 7.6x 0.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARCCOBDCHTGC
Debt / assets 49.4% 51.5% 49.8%
Debt / equity 1.1x 1.1x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF 13.2x 3.6x 277.2x
Liabilities / assets 54.4% 54.2% 51.5%
Equity / assets 45.6% 45.8% 48.5%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARCCOBDCHTGC
Dividend yield 10.4% 13.6% 8.1%
Net buyback yield -0.8% 1.4% -2.0%
Shareholder yield 9.6% 15.0% 6.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 262.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 34.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 8.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 11.0% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusARCCOBDCHTGC
Forward P/E 10.4xFY2026 8.0xFY2026 9.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.79FY2026 $1.26FY2026 $1.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.9%FY2026 -20.3%FY2026 -4.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.0% +0.8% +10.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.89BFY2026 $1.64BFY2026 $604.28MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -5.1%FY2026 -11.4%FY2026 +13.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% -11.3% +7.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARCCOBDCHTGC
Held by institutions 33.7% 53.4% 28.8%
Institutions holding 780 426 331
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.8% -0.8% +0.3%
Institutions buying 379 195 166
Institutions selling 254 148 102
Buyers to sellers 1.49 1.32 1.63

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ARCCOBDCHTGC
ARCC 1.00 0.79 0.66
OBDC 0.79 1.00 0.66
HTGC 0.66 0.66 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARCC, OBDC and HTGC?

Ares Capital (ARCC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ares Capital (ARCC) $13.71B, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) $5.19B, Hercules Capital (HTGC) $3.13B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARCC, OBDC and HTGC?

Hercules Capital (HTGC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ares Capital (ARCC) 15.7x, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) 18.0x, Hercules Capital (HTGC) 8.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) is cheapest (Ares Capital (ARCC) 10.4x, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) 8.0x, Hercules Capital (HTGC) 9.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Hercules Capital (HTGC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ares Capital (ARCC) +2.3%, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) -3.0%, Hercules Capital (HTGC) +12.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Hercules Capital (HTGC) has the highest net margin (Ares Capital (ARCC) 28.3%, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) 17.0%, Hercules Capital (HTGC) 67.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hercules Capital (HTGC) returned the most: Ares Capital (ARCC) -9.9%, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) -23.4%, Hercules Capital (HTGC) -7.9%. Over five years, Hercules Capital (HTGC) compounded fastest (Ares Capital (ARCC) -2.9%/yr, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) -6.8%/yr, Hercules Capital (HTGC) -1.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Ares Capital (ARCC) 0.00%, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) 0.15%, Hercules Capital (HTGC) 0.00%. Ares Capital (ARCC) and Hercules Capital (HTGC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ares Capital (ARCC) has been the steadiest (Ares Capital (ARCC) 19.1%, Blue Owl Capital (OBDC) 24.2%, Hercules Capital (HTGC) 23.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARCC, OBDC and HTGC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Hercules Capital (HTGC) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.