Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.29.

Several analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $23.18. 3,892,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,590,648. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.94 and a 200-day moving average of $21.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

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.