Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shareholders to Get $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share by the investment management company on Tuesday, December 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th.

Ares Capital has a payout ratio of 96.0% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect Ares Capital to earn $1.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 98.5%.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 615,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,738,799. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year high of $21.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The investment management company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $776.34 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ARCC shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.39.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and, to a lesser extent, equity securities. Its investments are generally designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives, and other corporate activities.

Founded in 2004, Ares Capital is externally managed by Ares Capital Management LLC, an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation.