Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s share price shot up 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $21.02 and last traded at $20.93. 573,411 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 3,452,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.71.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a PE ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 239,594 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,016 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,176 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,713 shares in the last quarter. Sage Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 871,608 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,164,000 after buying an additional 111,007 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,377,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.