Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading 0.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)’s stock price rose 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $22.26 and last traded at $22.25. Approximately 885,830 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,487,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Down 2.0 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.74%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 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.