Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $21.71 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.71.

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities raised their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 389,236 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,913,000 after buying an additional 20,202 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,384,752 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $27,737,000 after purchasing an additional 85,561 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the first quarter worth $86,227,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $1,609,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 151.4% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 27,523 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 2.0 %

ARCC stock opened at $20.75 on Tuesday. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $18.55 and a 1-year high of $21.84. The stock has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.01. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $20.75 and its 200 day moving average is $20.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced 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 company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 65.75%.

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.