Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $23.53 and last traded at $23.46, with a volume of 365268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. B. Riley increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after buying an additional 38,559 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the period. 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.