Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.9% - Still a Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) traded up 0.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.28 and last traded at $20.19. 1,486,728 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 4,007,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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 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 MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.61.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.