Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading 0% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) shot up 0% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $20.80 and last traded at $20.67. 735,605 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 4,107,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.66.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.23%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARCC. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.14.

Ares Capital Stock Up 2.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.