Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. Capital One Financial set a $22.50 target price on Ares Capital in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $20.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.04. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.48 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 45.16%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Ares Capital by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $226,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,301,890 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 825.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,711 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $77,996,000 after buying an additional 3,167,906 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $36,943,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 18.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,404,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $140,651,000 after buying an additional 1,006,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 56.9% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,342,324 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $51,437,000 after buying an additional 849,097 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.