Brokerages Set Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Target Price at $22.94

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research 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 a report on the stock in the last year is $22.94.

ARCC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley upped their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.35 on Friday. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.22%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.