Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

ARCC has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,690,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,717,285. 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 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.40 and its 200 day moving average is $21.53. The firm has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.