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

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.00.

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $19.05 on Tuesday. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 42.56%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.1%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 103.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Capital

In other Ares Capital news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel bought 12,500 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,765. This represents a 44.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem purchased 5,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,558,581 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $355,210,000 after purchasing an additional 341,578 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $226,615,000 after buying an additional 3,301,890 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $190,572,000 after buying an additional 705,882 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 18.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,404,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $140,651,000 after buying an additional 1,006,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $109,432,000 after buying an additional 761,838 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.