Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s share price rose 0.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.27 and last traded at $21.16. Approximately 983,077 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 4,078,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.22.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $58,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,439,000 after purchasing an additional 881,450 shares during the period. 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.