Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Price Target Raised to $22.00 at Oppenheimer

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price objective hoisted by Oppenheimer from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. B. Riley cut shares of Ares Capital from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $21.43.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $20.61. 2,902,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,632,858. Ares Capital has a 12 month low of $17.53 and a 12 month high of $21.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.42 and a 200 day moving average of $20.06. The stock has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 62.77% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $701.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.32%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 17.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,719,943 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $202,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,864 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1,865.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $844,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,570 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $86,227,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,043,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $59,251,000 after purchasing an additional 23,276 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,060,063 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $42,891,000 after purchasing an additional 105,277 shares during the period. 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.