Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.10 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.31%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.79.

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.