Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at Citizens Jmp

Key Points

• Target price lowered to $22 by Citizens Jmp (from $23) while maintaining a "market outperform" rating, and the stock's consensus price target is $21.13 with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" (seven Buys, two Holds).
• Shares trade around $18.96, below analyst targets and the 52-week high of $23.42, with a market cap of $13.61 billion and a PE ratio near 10.2.
• Insider buying (CEO and CFO increased their stakes in February) and large institutional inflows from firms like Morgan Stanley and UBS underline continued investor interest, with institutions owning about 27.4% of the stock.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Citizens Jmp from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market outperform" rating on the investment management company's stock. Citizens Jmp's price objective points to a potential upside of 16.03% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.13.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of ARCC opened at $18.96 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $18.59 and its 200 day moving average is $19.64. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $795.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Ares Capital's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Scott C. Lem acquired 5,186 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $761,241.27. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel acquired 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $774,765. The trade was a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,558,581 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $355,210,000 after purchasing an additional 341,578 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $226,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,301,890 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $190,572,000 after purchasing an additional 705,882 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $109,432,000 after purchasing an additional 761,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,387,637 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $88,762,000 after purchasing an additional 63,796 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation NASDAQ: ARCC is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm's flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.

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