Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.94.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock opened at $22.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.89.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced 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 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 8.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.