Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,590,000 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the October 31st total of 17,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.15. The stock had a trading volume of 2,812,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,703,123. The company has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.07. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $22.21. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.67%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 32.5% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 52,007 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 151.4% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 27,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 681,724 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 29,786 shares during the period. 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.