Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading 0.8% Higher

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) traded up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $21.06 and last traded at $21.00. 1,156,966 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 3,456,177 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.79. The company has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Sage Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 871,608 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,164,000 after buying an additional 111,007 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter worth about $3,377,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 864,353 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,013,000 after purchasing an additional 43,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 137,274 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.