Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) traded up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.31 and last traded at $22.32. 606,393 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 3,727,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.76 and its 200-day moving average is $22.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Ares Capital by 25.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 222,101 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,651,000 after buying an additional 44,548 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 331.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 178,224 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,732,000 after acquiring an additional 136,927 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at about $1,547,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $651,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 26,968 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 10,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.