Analysts Set Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target at $21.71

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.71.

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARCC. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.8% in the third quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 67,726 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,464 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 964,643 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $20,200,000 after purchasing an additional 103,049 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 6.1% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,672 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.86 and its 200 day moving average is $20.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $18.55 and a fifty-two week high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.87%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

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.