Brokerages Set Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) PT at $21.86

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.86.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $22.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.92%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Ares Capital by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after acquiring an additional 975,045 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $80,338,000 after buying an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 273,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 223,245 shares in 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.