Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.20% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on ARCC. B. Riley upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.64.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.96 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,397,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,887 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,189 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Hanover Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,350 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.