StockNews.com Upgrades Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) to “Hold”

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

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

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2 %

ARCC opened at $21.58 on Tuesday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05. The company has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $651,000. Progeny 3 Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,080,208 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $43,560,000 after acquiring an additional 96,614 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,547,000. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 34,031 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.7% in the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 152,259 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.