Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Ares Capital from $22.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Capital One Financial set a $22.50 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $226,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,301,890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 825.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,711 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $77,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167,906 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,943,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,404,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $140,651,000 after buying an additional 1,006,460 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 56.9% in the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,342,324 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $51,437,000 after buying an additional 849,097 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.16 on Friday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.04.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 45.16% and a return on equity of 10.08%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

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.