Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the investment management company’s stock.

ARCC has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $18.91 on Tuesday. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $18.60 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.15%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.