Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $18.60 and last traded at $18.73, with a volume of 4189302 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.