Brokerages Set Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) PT at $22.86

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.8571.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ARCC shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter worth $29,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter worth about $30,000. CNB Bank bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.73. Ares Capital has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.The business had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.66%.

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.