Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s Why

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s share price rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $20.51 and last traded at $20.40. Approximately 4,235,919 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 4,042,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.61.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.85 and a 200 day moving average of $21.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,198,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.