Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Down 0.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) traded down 0.6% on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $22.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ares Capital traded as low as $18.26 and last traded at $18.81. 3,360,194 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 3,916,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.91.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.77. The business's 50 day moving average is $22.11 and its 200-day moving average is $21.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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%. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.64%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.