Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.20% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ARCC. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.64.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC opened at $22.96 on Thursday. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.