Ares Capital Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 14,321 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,788 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.18 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.72 and its 200 day moving average is $21.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.01. 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 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $22.43.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.66%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

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.