Ares Capital Corporation vs Shell PLC — how do they compare? Ares Capital Corporation trades at $19.87 (market cap $14.34B), while Shell PLC trades at $90.53 (market cap $250.44B). The key difference: Shell PLC is far larger — about 17.5× 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 | SHEL | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $14.34B | $250.44B |
Sector | Financials | Energy |
52-Week High | $22.68 | $94.15 |
52-Week Low | $17.45 | $70.31 |
Dividend Yield | 9.61% | 3.45% |
Enterprise Value | — | $292.14B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
ARCC trades at $19.87, down 0.55% with a bullish technical outlook supported by moving averages. The company reported $1.51B revenue and $1.30B net income for 2025, maintaining an 86.25% profit margin. Recent earnings show slight misses against expectations, but dividend coverage remains stable at 104% with a 9.9% yield. Analyst consensus is strongly bullish with 24 buy ratings and a $19.63 price target.
The stock presents income appeal with its high dividend yield and stable payout history, though recent earnings compression and rising non-accruals to 2.4% signal credit quality concerns. Private credit sector strain and potential rate cuts pose medium-term risks to net investment income, which is 71% variable-rate exposed.
SHEL trades at $90.12, up 0.19% today, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages and strong Q2 2026 earnings beating estimates. The stock shows attractive valuation metrics with a P/E of 10.01 and P/S of 0.88, supported by a 14.35% ROE and 8.76% net income margin. Recent news highlights oil price gains boosting energy stocks and Shell's strategic divestments, such as selling its European renewables unit to TotalEnergies.
Outlook remains positive due to discounted valuation, rising cash flow, and analyst consensus favoring buys with a $103.60 price target. Key risks include commodity price volatility, regulatory pressures, and execution challenges in energy transitions. The stock offers value with upside potential but requires monitoring of oil market dynamics and debt levels.
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 →Shell is an integrated oil and gas company that explores for, produces, and refines oil around the world. In 2021, it produced 1.7 million barrels of liquids and 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. At year-end 2021, reserves stood at 9.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, 50% of which consisted of liquids. Its production and reserves are in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and North and South America. The company operates refineries with capacity of 1.8 mmb/d located in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe and sells 15 mtpa of chemicals. Its largest chemical plants, often integrated with its local refineries, are in Central Europe, China, Singapore, and North America.
Read more on SHEL →