Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.14. 2,801,881 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,366,996. The company has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.94. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $18.86 and a 52-week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.08%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. B. Riley boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

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.