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

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 10,067 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average volume of 7,761 put options.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $58,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.59%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

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.