Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Up 1.6% - What's Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $20.46 and last traded at $20.41. 938,311 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 4,022,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.61.

Ares Capital Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.94. 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 market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings 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 increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 871,370 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $84,426,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 105,526 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

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.