Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Capital

In other Ares Capital news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel acquired 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.39 per share, with a total value of $265,070.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 28,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,920. This represents a 86.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $877,203,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 825.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,711 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $77,996,000 after buying an additional 3,167,906 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth $36,943,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ares Capital by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,404,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $140,651,000 after buying an additional 1,006,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 56.9% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,342,324 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $51,437,000 after acquiring an additional 849,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $20.64 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.34 and its 200 day moving average is $21.19. Ares Capital has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.48 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 45.16%.The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 96.00%.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.