Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Ares Capital Put Options (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 14,321 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,788 put options.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $22.18. 3,559,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,462,108. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.17. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. JBR Co Financial Management Inc raised its stake in Ares Capital by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% in the third 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. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 25,823 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.