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

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 27,969 put options on the company. This is an increase of 370% compared to the average daily volume of 5,947 put options.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.18 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.41. The company has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.56.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 354,237 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,754,000 after purchasing an additional 35,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley upped their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.43.

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.