Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.4% - Still a Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) rose 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $22.26 and last traded at $22.25. Approximately 885,830 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,487,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Down 7.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.61%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in 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.