Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.72. The stock had a trading volume of 4,063,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,884,548. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.77. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $18.60 and a twelve month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 25,347 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.