Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment 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. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.86.

Several research analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set 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 Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $21.53 on Wednesday. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The company has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.92%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

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.