Raymond James Downgrades Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) to Market Perform

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) was downgraded by Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ARCC. B. Riley upped their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.79.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.10 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week 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 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%. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.