Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.68. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $174,068,000 after purchasing an additional 871,370 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $84,426,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 3.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,627,990 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $80,396,000 after acquiring an additional 104,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 9.0% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,567,816 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $79,063,000 after acquiring an additional 293,442 shares during the period. 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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