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

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at B. Riley from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the investment management company’s stock. B. Riley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $21.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,765,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,362,086. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $18.86 and a 52-week high of $22.05. The company has a market cap of $13.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baugh & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% during the third quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 236,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,767,000 after buying an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 9.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 82,970 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,330 shares during the period. Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at about $614,000. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.8% in the third quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 114,784 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 93,882 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 9,428 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.