Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Raised to $23.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Capital's price target from $22.00 to $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.04% from its current trading price.
• Ares Capital reported a Q2 earnings miss with an EPS of $0.50, slightly below the consensus estimate of $0.51, and generated revenue of $614 million against an expectation of $748.76 million.
• Overall, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with various analysts providing mixed ratings, including upgrades and downgrades in recent reports.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $22.00 to $23.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the investment management company's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target indicates a potential upside of 2.80% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ARCC. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.37. 769,048 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,592,192. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.14. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.24 and its 200-day moving average is $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% in 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. CNB Bank purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.