Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $20.39

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.39.

Several brokerages have weighed in on ARCC. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $19.13 on Friday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $21.14. The company has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The investment management company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $776.34 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 157.38%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 345,778 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,407,000 after purchasing an additional 50,624 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $747,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 132.4% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,429 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,880,000 after acquiring an additional 88,558 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 9.5% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,870,130 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $71,714,000 after buying an additional 335,197 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 240,483 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,333,000 after acquiring an additional 83,841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company that provides financing to U.S. middle-market companies, including businesses backed by private equity firms. It is externally managed by Ares Capital Management, an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation.

The company invests primarily in debt, including first-lien and second-lien loans and subordinated debt, and may also make equity investments. Its financing supports a range of business needs, such as acquisitions, growth, and refinancing.

Founded in 2004, Ares Capital focuses mainly on companies in the United States.