Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $22.43 and last traded at $22.43, with a volume of 2932243 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARCC. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley boosted 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.35%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after acquiring an additional 975,045 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $70,926,000 after purchasing an additional 104,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 3.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $46,430,000 after buying an additional 79,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.