Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.60.

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Friday, June 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. SWAN Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $27,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $19.04 on Friday. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $22.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.93. The company has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 37.30% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.