Ares Capital Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 11,684 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 99% compared to the average daily volume of 5,885 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $774,765. The trade was a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem purchased 5,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $761,241.27. This trade represents a 15.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,193,526 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $24,145,000 after acquiring an additional 4,064 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $1,305,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Clearwave Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,440,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,263,326. Ares Capital has a fifty-two week low of $18.17 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The company has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.86 and a 200-day moving average of $20.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.3%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.23%.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.