Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Trading 1.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) shares traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.20 and last traded at $20.17. 1,693,459 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 4,001,384 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ARCC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.