Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $22.94 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.94.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARCC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley boosted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.27. The company had a trading volume of 3,785,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,598,560. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.62. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.