Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price rose 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $20.26 and last traded at $20.24. Approximately 569,412 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 4,014,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.61.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.95.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.41%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.