Brokerages Set Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) PT at $20.80

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the four brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.80.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. B. Riley downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,427,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,916,152. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.96. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $17.53 and a twelve month high of $20.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 58.22% and a return on equity of 12.50%. The company had revenue of $707.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 100.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,426 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 181,426 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 323.3% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.