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

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.94.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $174,068,000 after buying an additional 871,370 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $84,426,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,651 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $77,133,000 after acquiring an additional 105,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.28. 5,263,219 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,690,324. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $14.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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, analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.02%. Ares Capital's dividend 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.