Short Interest in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Decreases By 8.1%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,660,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 18,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Ares Capital by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,719,943 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $202,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,864 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,000,570 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the first quarter valued at approximately $86,227,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $64,524,000 after purchasing an additional 223,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $18.55 and a 52 week high of $21.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.03 and a 200-day moving average of $20.53.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 62.77% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $701.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.20%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

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.