Ares Capital Corporation vs Msci Inc — how do they compare? Ares Capital Corporation trades at $20.01 (market cap $14.35B), while Msci Inc trades at $562 (market cap $40.94B). The key difference: Msci Inc is far larger — about 2.9× Ares Capital Corporation's market cap, and Ares Capital Corporation pays the higher dividend (9.61%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| ARCC | MSCI | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $14.35B | $40.94B |
Sector | Financials | Financials |
52-Week High | $22.68 | $643.83 |
52-Week Low | $17.45 | $511.84 |
Dividend Yield | 9.61% | 1.46% |
Enterprise Value | — | $47.10B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
ARCC trades at $20.01, up 1.99% today, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages but neutral oscillators. Recent earnings show Q2 2026 EPS of $0.47, slightly below the $0.4731 estimate, continuing a trend of minor misses. Revenue declined to $1.51B in 2025 from $1.7B in 2024, with net income margin at 81.77%. The stock offers a high dividend yield, with consistent payouts highlighted in recent news.
Outlook is mixed: strong analyst buy consensus (75%) and a stable dividend history support income investors, but declining revenue and tight dividend coverage pose risks. Price target consensus is $19.63, below the current price, suggesting limited upside. Macro risks in private credit, per WSJ on August 9, 2026, add caution.
MSCI trades at $563.17, down 0.72% with bearish technical signals but strong fundamentals including 40.73% net margins and consistent earnings beats. The company shows robust revenue growth from $2.2B in 2022 to $3.13B in 2025, with positive cash flow trends. Recent acquisitions like First Street and partnerships with UBS enhance its private markets platform, supporting long-term growth in climate risk analytics and alternative investments.
Wall Street maintains strong bullish sentiment with 73% buy ratings and a $728.14 consensus target, implying 29% upside. Key risks include high debt levels at $4.51B and sensitivity to market cycles, but recurring revenue models and strategic expansions position MSCI for sustained outperformance despite near-term technical weakness.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Ares Capital Corp is a United States-based closed-ended specialty finance company. Its investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments. The company focuses on investing primarily in U.S. middle-market companies with investment opportunities as well as in larger companies. Its portfolio comprises of first lien senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loans, and mezzanine debt (subordinated unsecured loan), which may include equity components that are diversified by industry and sector. The company may invest in preferred and common equity investments to a lesser proportion. Its revenue mainly consists of interest and dividend income received from the investment made.
Read more on ARCC →MSCI describes its mission as enabling investors to build better portfolios for a better world. MSCI's largest and most profitable segment is its index segment, where it provides benchmarking to asset managers and asset owners. In addition, it boasts over $1 trillion in ETF assets linked to MSCI indexes. The MSCI analytics segment provides portfolio management and risk management analytics software to asset managers and asset owners. MSCI's all other segment was broken out into ESG and climate and private assets segments in 2021. In ESG and climate, MSCI provides ESG data to the investment industry. In the private assets side, MSCI provides real restate reporting, market data, benchmarking, and analytics to investors and real estate managers.
Read more on MSCI →