Ares Capital Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 14,321 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 199% compared to the average volume of 4,788 put options.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.19. 1,256,268 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,237,522. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.16. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.43. The company has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced 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). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after buying an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after buying an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $72,778,000 after buying an additional 273,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $70,926,000 after acquiring an additional 104,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

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.