Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) rose 0.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $21.02 and last traded at $20.93. Approximately 573,411 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 3,452,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.71.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.71 and a 200 day moving average of $20.79.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $714.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 499,837 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $10,012,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 206,949 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,145,000 after buying an additional 11,001 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $402,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,337,000. Finally, Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 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.