Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on ARCC. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $20.50 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Ares Capital from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 82,913 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 15,957 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 30,205 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 11,226 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 513,554 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $10,759,000 after buying an additional 106,704 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $897,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 70.2% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,595 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.32% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $19.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $16.53 and a twelve month high of $20.33. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.36 and its 200 day moving average is $18.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $634.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.26 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 36.52% and a return on equity of 12.47%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.89%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.36%.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.