Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $22.29 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.29.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.19%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 354,237 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,754,000 after buying an additional 35,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after buying an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently 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.