Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Down 0.5% – Here’s Why

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price was down 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $20.75 and last traded at $20.84. Approximately 868,397 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 3,457,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. JMP Securities raised their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 20.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $243,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,166 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $86,227,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $72,778,000 after acquiring an additional 273,025 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $64,524,000 after acquiring an additional 223,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.8% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,138,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $44,560,000 after purchasing an additional 78,140 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.