Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Market Outperform Rating at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $21.00 target price on the investment management company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. B. Riley lowered Ares Capital from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.80.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $20.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.99. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $17.53 and a 52-week high of $20.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $707.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.78 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.22%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 71.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,665 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Baron Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Baron Financial Group LLC now owns 18,366 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Syntal Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.3% in the third quarter. Syntal Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,346 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108,577 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,595 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.