Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 14,321 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,788 put options.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.18 on Friday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.17. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.66%. The ex-dividend date was 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.