Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Price

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 5.90% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. B. Riley upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.66. 2,584,379 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,668,072. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.51. The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 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. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84.

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

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,870,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

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.