Brokerages Set Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Target Price at $22.94

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.94.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.2% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.40 on Friday. 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 cap of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.67.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

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.