Short Interest in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Drops By 35.0%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,190,000 shares, a decline of 35.0% from the February 29th total of 28,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.82 on Friday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.25 and its 200 day moving average is $19.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 58.22% and a return on equity of 12.50%. The firm had revenue of $707.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.80.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,282,079 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $165,890,000 after acquiring an additional 840,823 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,771,933 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $95,606,000 after purchasing an additional 360,862 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $844,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,570 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 7.5% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,880,360 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $70,818,000 after purchasing an additional 271,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.5% during the first quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,116,400 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $56,952,000 after buying an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.