Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Down 5.9% - Here's What Happened

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.88 and last traded at $20.24. 6,130,075 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 62% from the average session volume of 3,774,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day moving average is $22.38 and its 200-day moving average is $21.99. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.15%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by 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.