Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Sees Large Volume Increase After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. Approximately 4,684,182 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 4,213,276 shares.The stock last traded at $22.67 and had previously closed at $23.81.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.43%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. B. Riley upped their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.79.

Ares Capital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.49.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,870,000. Finally, Vista Finance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,413,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.