Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Ares Capital Put Options (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 14,559 put options on the company. This is an increase of 107% compared to the typical volume of 7,021 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Ares Capital by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 51,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 52,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in Ares Capital by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 142,958 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,994,000 after purchasing an additional 9,461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.91 and its 200-day moving average is $21.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. 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 8.83%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

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.