Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s share price fell 3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $20.06 and last traded at $20.23. 1,647,573 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 3,963,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.97. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.64%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.