Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.39.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Dupree Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,395,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,195,050 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $59,875,000 after acquiring an additional 428,682 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 18.5% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 30,616 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 4,785 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 66.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 100,778 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after buying an additional 40,211 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 73.9% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,493 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $18.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.95. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $21.14. The company has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $768.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.19 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 30.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 142.22%.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a specialty finance company that operates as a business development company (BDC). It provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily through directly originated loans and other investments. Ares Capital seeks to support businesses that may require capital for acquisitions, growth initiatives, recapitalizations, refinancings and other corporate purposes.

The company invests across a range of industries and typically provides first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments.