Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.55. 5,153,980 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,213,276. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.49. The company has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.51%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.79.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.