B. Riley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price objective lifted by B. Riley from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. B. Riley currently has a neutral rating on the investment management company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ares Capital’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ARCC. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.00 on Thursday. Ares Capital has a 12 month low of $19.24 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The company has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.00 and a 200 day moving average of $20.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 42,749 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 3,910 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 12.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 264,310 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,503,000 after acquiring an additional 28,718 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the first quarter worth about $331,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,183,649 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $24,644,000 after purchasing an additional 179,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 41.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 26,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 7,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.