Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on ARCC. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.60.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ARCC opened at $18.78 on Friday. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $23.15. The stock has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The business had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $778.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.79%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. SWAN Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Capital

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.