Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $22.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on 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, UBS Group cut their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,428,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,174,550. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.92. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.68. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 43.50% and a return on equity of 11.05%. The company's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 93.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 87.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,621,109 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,570 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.