Short Interest in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Rises By 5.2%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,440,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the October 15th total of 16,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,531,444 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $32,068,000 after purchasing an additional 39,495 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,528,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 10.9% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 73,741 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 7,236 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its position in Ares Capital by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 613,270 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $12,842,000 after acquiring an additional 20,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $576,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.00. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARCC. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

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.