Analysts Set Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) PT at $22.94

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.94.

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

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Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.44 on Tuesday. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.89.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $174,068,000 after purchasing an additional 871,370 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after purchasing an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $84,426,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $77,133,000 after buying an additional 105,526 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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