Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given 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 a consensus target price of $22.64.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $22.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.39 and its 200 day moving average is $21.51. The firm has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.45%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after acquiring an additional 38,559 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.