Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.64.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.73 on Thursday. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.51.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.