Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.94.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,540 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 104,705 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 22,510 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,404 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 49,612 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.08 on Friday. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.46 and a 200-day moving average of $21.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.32%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.