Short Interest in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Increases By 5.2%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,440,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the October 15th total of 16,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 62.7% in the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.3 %

ARCC stock opened at $21.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $22.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

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.