Short Interest in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Drops By 11.5%

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,090,000 shares, a drop of 11.5% from the March 15th total of 18,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.24. 2,728,024 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,692,094. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $12.28 billion, a PE ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital has a 1 year low of $17.53 and a 1 year high of $20.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The company had revenue of $707.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.78 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Ares Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 71.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley cut Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.80.

Institutional Trading of Ares Capital

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,282,079 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $165,890,000 after purchasing an additional 840,823 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,771,933 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $95,606,000 after purchasing an additional 360,862 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $844,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $86,227,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 7.5% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,880,360 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $70,818,000 after purchasing an additional 271,811 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.