Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives $22.25 Average PT from Analysts

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.25.

Several research firms have weighed in on ARCC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.37. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.59.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 45.16%.The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 96.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Capital

In related news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel acquired 13,000 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $265,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 28,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,920. The trade was a 86.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 66,701 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Stillwater Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $306,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $68,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 484,972 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $9,898,000 after acquiring an additional 36,020 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,919,000. 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.