Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $22.63 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.6250.

Several analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Capital One Financial set a $22.50 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC opened at $20.08 on Wednesday. Ares Capital has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.68.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.6%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Equity Group Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.3% in the third quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,394 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 87.0% in the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 36,465 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 16,965 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 13.5% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,653 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 18.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,474 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.