Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $21.22. 1,462,082 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,360,315. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $18.86 and a 1-year high of $22.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.00 and a 200-day moving average of $20.94. The firm has a market cap of $13.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

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.