Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Down 3% – What’s Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price was down 3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $20.06 and last traded at $20.23. Approximately 1,647,573 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 3,963,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report 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 on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.97.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Analysts predict 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 paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Ares Capital by 10.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,291 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 10.9% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 73,741 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,236 shares during the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,744 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 9.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 178,153 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,923,000 after purchasing an additional 15,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.