Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Down 3% - What's Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $20.06 and last traded at $20.23. Approximately 1,647,573 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 3,963,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARCC. 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.98.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.59%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 92.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.