B. Riley Has Weak Outlook for Ares Capital FY2024 Earnings

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) – Equities research analysts at B. Riley cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for Ares Capital in a note issued to investors on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley analyst B. Rowe now anticipates that the investment management company will post earnings per share of $2.37 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.41. B. Riley currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ares Capital’s current full-year earnings is $2.36 per share. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ares Capital’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.59 EPS.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ARCC. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.00 and its 200-day moving average is $20.96. The firm has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.14%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 151.4% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 27,523 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 681,724 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 29,786 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 206.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $64,524,000 after buying an additional 223,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.