Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.2%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price was up 0.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.67 and last traded at $20.66. Approximately 633,065 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 3,450,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.78. The company has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.75%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 389,236 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,913,000 after purchasing an additional 20,202 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,384,752 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $27,737,000 after acquiring an additional 85,561 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $86,227,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,609,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 151.4% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $952,000 after purchasing an additional 27,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.