Ares Capital Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 106,933 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 3,621% compared to the average daily volume of 2,874 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $243,434,000 after buying an additional 1,961,166 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,815,000. Partners Group Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,428,000 after acquiring an additional 312,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% during the 2nd 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. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $22.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.13. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.43.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

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.