Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price Down 5.9% – Time to Sell?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) shares fell 5.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.88 and last traded at $20.24. 6,130,075 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 62% from the average session volume of 3,774,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 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 report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Down 7.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.77. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.02.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.61%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.