Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $20.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 62.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.5% during the third quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 3.9% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently 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.