Investors Purchase Large Volume of Ares Capital Put Options (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 4,054 put options on the company. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 2,483 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Ares Capital by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after buying an additional 975,045 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after buying an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 273,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,430,000 after purchasing an additional 79,074 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.