Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given New $22.00 Price Target at B. Riley

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price objective lifted by B. Riley from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the investment management company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ares Capital’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $21.23. The company had a trading volume of 417,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,353,099. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.24 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 42,749 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 264,310 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,718 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at $331,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,183,649 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $24,644,000 after purchasing an additional 179,770 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 41.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 26,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 7,695 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.