B. Riley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at B. Riley from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the investment management company’s stock. B. Riley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 4.76% from the stock’s previous close. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ares Capital’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Ares Capital has a 12-month low of $19.24 and a 12-month high of $22.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01.

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 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 12.31% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 62.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 24,805 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.