Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) shares shot up 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $21.11 and last traded at $21.08. 838,021 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,422,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.83.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.1% in the first quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 24,805 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 22,966 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.