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

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,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 analysts also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% during the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.