Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Rating Increased to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $23.00 target price on the investment management company’s stock.

ARCC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $22.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.38 and a 200-day moving average of $21.07.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.69%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Ares Capital by 8.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after buying an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after buying an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 8.5% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $72,778,000 after acquiring an additional 273,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,430,000 after acquiring an additional 79,074 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is 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.