Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $21.71 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three 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. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.71.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities raised their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 565.0% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 5,400 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 4,588 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $378,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,430,000 after purchasing an additional 79,074 shares in the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ayrshire Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 69,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.3 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $18.55 and a 52-week high of $21.84. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.75%.

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.