Analysts Set Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) PT at $22.00

Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several equities analysts have commented on ARCC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th.

Insider Transactions at Ares Capital

In related news, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.29 per share, with a total value of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 39,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $761,241.27. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at $774,765. The trade was a 44.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. City Holding Co. grew its position in Ares Capital by 444.4% during the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 1,225 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SWAN Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $18.62 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.63.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.20 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 42.56%.Ares Capital’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 103.23%.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.