Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Up 1.6%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) shares rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $20.92 and last traded at $20.90. Approximately 922,137 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 3,535,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.50.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.03 and a 200-day moving average of $20.51.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 65.75%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,719,943 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $202,369,000 after buying an additional 1,437,864 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $844,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $86,227,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $64,524,000 after purchasing an additional 223,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,060,063 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $42,891,000 after purchasing an additional 105,277 shares during the period. 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.