Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Raised to $22.00

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price boosted by B. Riley from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the investment management company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ares Capital’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC opened at $21.00 on Thursday. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $19.24 and a 1-year high of $22.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.94. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after acquiring an additional 975,045 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after buying an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 8.5% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $72,778,000 after buying an additional 273,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 7.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $64,524,000 after buying an additional 223,245 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.