Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.94.

Several research firms recently commented on ARCC. B. Riley increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after buying an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.3 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.40 on Friday. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

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.