Ares Capital (ARCC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a specialty finance company that operates as a business development company (BDC). It provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily through directly originated loans and other investments. Ares Capital seeks to support businesses that may require capital for acquisitions, growth initiatives, recapitalizations, refinancings and other corporate purposes.

The company invests across a range of industries and typically provides first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments. Its portfolio companies are generally privately owned businesses, and its investments may include both sponsored and non-sponsored transactions. Ares Capital’s activities are focused primarily on the United States, with additional exposure to select companies and transactions outside the country.

Founded in 2004, Ares Capital is externally managed by Ares Capital Management LLC, an affiliate of global alternative investment manager Ares Management Corporation. Kipp DeVeer serves as Ares Capital’s chief executive officer and is also a senior executive at Ares Management. The company is headquartered in New York City.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $18.37 to $18.78
• 50-Day Range: $18.45 to $20.19
• 52-Week Range: $17.40 to $21.14
• Volume: 3.87 million shs
• Average Volume: 4.98 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $13.46 billion
• P/E Ratio: 13.88
• Dividend Yield: 10.25%
• Price Target: $20.60
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Ares Capital Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Ares Capital scored higher than 70% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 404th out of 833 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Ares Capital has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.73, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 8 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Ares Capital is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Ares Capital has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 1.57%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Ares Capital are expected to grow by 1.57% in the coming year, from $1.91 to $1.94 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Ares Capital is 13.88, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.89.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Ares Capital is 13.88, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 24.64.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Ares Capital has a P/B Ratio of 0.94. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.86% of the float of Ares Capital has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Ares Capital has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 9.33.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Ares Capital has recently increased by 1.60%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Leadership

Ares Capital is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 10.41%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Ares Capital does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Ares Capital is 142.22%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Ares Capital will have a dividend payout ratio of 98.97% in the coming year. This indicates that Ares Capital may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.75

News Sentiment

Ares Capital has a news sentiment score of 0.75. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.56 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 10 news articles for Ares Capital this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

65 people have searched for ARCC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 38% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

40 people have added Ares Capital to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 471% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Ares Capital insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.50% of the stock of Ares Capital is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

27.38% of the stock of Ares Capital is held by institutions.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/29/2026
• Record date for 9/30 Dividend: 9/15/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/30 Dividend: 9/15/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/30/2026
• Today: 10/09/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/27/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Capital Markets
• Sub-Industry: Asset Management & Custody Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:ARCC
• CIK: 1287750
• Web: www.arescapitalcorp.com
• Phone: (212) 750-7300
• Fax: 212-750-1777
• Employees: 4,250
• Year Founded: 2004

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Ares Capital: $20.60
• High Price Target: $22.50
• Low Price Target: $18.50
• Potential Upside/Downside: +9.9%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.73
• Research Coverage: 11 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $1.35
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 13.88
• Forward P/E Ratio: 9.81
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $1.30 billion
• Net Margins: 30.91%
• Pretax Margin: 48.52%
• Return on Equity: 9.80%
• Return on Assets: 4.50%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.14
• Current Ratio: 1.28
• Quick Ratio: 1.28

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.05 billion
• Price / Sales: 4.41
• Cash Flow: $2.04 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 9.19
• Book Value: $19.94 per share
• Price / Book: 0.94

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 718,020,000
• Free Float: 714,433,000
• Market Cap: $13.46 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.61