Analysts Anticipate Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Will Announce Earnings of $0.43 Per Share

Wall Street analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC – Get Rating) will report $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Four analysts have made estimates for Ares Capital’s earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $0.41 and the highest is $0.46. Ares Capital posted earnings of $0.53 per share in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a negative year over year growth rate of 18.9%. The firm is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Ares Capital will report full year earnings of $1.78 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.69 to $1.93. For the next financial year, analysts forecast that the company will report earnings of $1.92 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.77 to $2.22. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that that provide coverage for Ares Capital.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 26th. The investment management company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $440.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.12 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 75.13% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Hovde Group raised Ares Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.50 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.56.

In related news, Director Mary Beth Henson bought 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.05 per share, for a total transaction of $120,300.00. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth $375,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 188,977 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares in the last quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,676 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ares Capital by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 18,702 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 63,503 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 9,552 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.44% of the company’s stock.

ARCC stock opened at $19.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a PE ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $18.48 and a 12-month high of $23.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.00.

About Ares Capital (Get Rating)

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.

See Also