Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $22.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.43% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. B. Riley boosted their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.69.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,388,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,616,987. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.39 and a 200 day moving average of $21.51. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $70,926,000 after purchasing an additional 104,710 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,159,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.