Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target to $23.00

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC opened at $22.74 on Thursday. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.53. The firm has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,400,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $30,658,000 after acquiring an additional 458,360 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.