Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.70 and last traded at $19.73. Approximately 1,715,005 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 4,048,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.40.
Analyst Ratings Changes
ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.61.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ARCC
Ares Capital Price Performance
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 market cap of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.77. The company's 50-day moving average price is $21.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.93.
Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.
Ares Capital Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 9.15%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.
About Ares Capital
(
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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.
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