Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) were up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $20.57 and last traded at $20.56. Approximately 631,727 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 3,542,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.50.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 62.77% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $701.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.23%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 65.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 323.3% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,922 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 218.7% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,960 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.