Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 11,684 put options on the company. This is an increase of 99% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,885 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased 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 report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Capital news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,765. This trade represents a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem acquired 5,186 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 39,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $761,241.27. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,193,526 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $24,145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Clearwave Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.1%

Ares Capital stock opened at $18.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $18.17 and a 12-month high of $23.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.82 and its 200 day moving average is $20.34. The company has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.59.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 42.56%.The company had revenue of $793.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.20 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.4%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 103.23%.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.