Raymond James Downgrades Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) to Market Perform

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) was downgraded by research analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on ARCC. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.79.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.10 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% in the third quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ares Capital

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.