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

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.29.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 171,559 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,946,000 after acquiring an additional 6,184 shares in the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 47,505 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 2,941 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 805,214 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $17,626,000 after purchasing an additional 43,380 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.28%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 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.