Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Short Interest Up 33.1% in February

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 29,328,894 shares, a growth of 33.1% from the February 12th total of 22,043,281 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,973,390 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 8,973,390 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $17.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.59. Ares Capital has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $23.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.63 and a 200-day moving average of $20.22. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 42.56%.Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 103.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,765. This trade represents a 44.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem purchased 5,186 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $761,241.27. This represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Ares Capital by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,558,581 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $355,210,000 after buying an additional 341,578 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $226,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,301,890 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $190,572,000 after acquiring an additional 705,882 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 18.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,404,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $140,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $109,432,000 after purchasing an additional 761,838 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.38.

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.