Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $23.00 price objective on the investment management company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. B. Riley lifted 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. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

ARCC opened at $22.10 on Monday. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.07. The firm has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. Ares Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.69%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $243,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,166 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,815,000. Partners Group Holding AG lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares during the period. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 206.7% in the 2nd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 153,208 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,193,000 after buying an additional 296,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.