Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of ARCC opened at $22.39 on Wednesday. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 93.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $877,203,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 87.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,621,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after buying an additional 1,220,570 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Ares Capital by 81.0% in the 4th 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ares Capital by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $174,068,000 after acquiring an additional 871,370 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.