Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wells Fargo & Company

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.65.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $19.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $17.40 and a 12-month high of $23.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.37.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The company had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $778.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $189,210,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $226,615,000 after buying an additional 3,301,890 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,943,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $33,380,000. Finally, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $26,089,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.