Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the investment management company on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.21%.

Ares Capital has increased its dividend by an average of 6.3% annually over the last three years. Ares Capital has a payout ratio of 86.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research analysts expect Ares Capital to earn $2.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 85.3%.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.05. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $21.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 58.22% and a return on equity of 12.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. B. Riley downgraded Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.