Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.70. 3,092,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,595,811. The company's 50-day moving average is $22.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.55. The company has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. 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.