Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Up 2.2% - Still a Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) was up 2.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.34 and last traded at $20.35. Approximately 612,849 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,048,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.33.

Ares Capital Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $21.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.94. The company has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.10%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 24.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 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.