Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.04. 1,626,377 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,129,442. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.05 and a 200 day moving average of $21.92. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Prostatis Group LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors increased its position in Ares Capital by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.