Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Upgraded to Hold at B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ares Capital’s Q1 2026 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.97 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $21.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.94. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a net margin of 43.50% and a return on equity of 11.05%. The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.01%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.6% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,614 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Intrua Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 17,980 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,627,990 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,396,000 after acquiring an additional 104,339 shares during the period. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC now owns 138,139 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 12,838 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,517 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.