Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.8571.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 target price on Ares Capital and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $20.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $748.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.