Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) to "Overweight"

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $23.00 price target on the investment management company's stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ARCC. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $22.10. 4,822,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,408,283. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $21.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.07. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $22.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.69%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,691 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.