Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading 3.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price traded up 3.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.72 and last traded at $21.71. 1,848,800 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 4,130,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Up 2.5%

The company has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.11 and its 200 day moving average is $21.89.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 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, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the first quarter worth $248,000. True North Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the first quarter worth $203,000. Condor Capital Management grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 10.3% in the first quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 221,332 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,905,000 after purchasing an additional 20,698 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.7% in the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 36,553 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 14.9% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 31,786 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,121 shares during the last quarter. 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.