Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

ARCC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.51 on Tuesday. Ares Capital has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.09 and its 200 day moving average is $21.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 62.7% in the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.