UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at UBS Group from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the investment management company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.94% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.61.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

ARCC stock opened at $20.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.85 and its 200-day moving average is $21.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $58,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.