Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $22.84 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.82 and a 200-day moving average of $21.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.67.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% during the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

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.

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