Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Dividend Announcement

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. 4,684,182 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 4,213,276 shares.The stock last traded at $22.67 and had previously closed at $23.81.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.31%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.79.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.51.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 5,832 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 137,274 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.0% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 49,874 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $266,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 54,942 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.