Short Interest in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Grows By 11.0%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,310,000 shares, an increase of 11.0% from the November 15th total of 15,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.69 on Monday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. JBR Co Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% in the third quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 25,823 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 6.2% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 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.