Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Cut to $22.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ARCC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.4%

ARCC opened at $20.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.73. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $748.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.66%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 1.5% during the second quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 28,983 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 150,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Prostatis Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.