Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Up 0.5% – What’s Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was up 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $22.33 and last traded at $22.35. Approximately 356,851 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 3,699,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.95. The stock has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.64%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

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

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.