Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Lowered to $23.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.1 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.00 on Tuesday. 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 50 day moving average of $21.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.89. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.14%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 320.7% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% in the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% during the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during 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.