Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

A number of research firms recently commented on ARCC. Capital One Financial set a $22.50 target price on Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 19th.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.64 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.18. The company has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.3%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Capital news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel bought 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $265,070.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 28,000 shares in the company, valued at $570,920. This trade represents a 86.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 20.9% in the second quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 126,366 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,775,000 after buying an additional 21,847 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,796,791 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $83,378,000 after acquiring an additional 21,344 shares during the last quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC now owns 138,139 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 12,838 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,453,944 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $53,889,000 after purchasing an additional 75,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at $309,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.