Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 1.3% - Still a Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.20 and last traded at $20.17. Approximately 1,693,459 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 4,001,384 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.61.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $21.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.94. The firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

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 the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position 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 worth $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.