Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ARCC. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.01 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.96. Ares Capital has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $22.05. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 62.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 88.9% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.