Overview
Ares Capital Corporation, based in the United States, is a leader in the private credit sector, primarily focusing on direct lending to middle-market companies. Established to address the funding gap faced by smaller enterprises, this company leverages a broad range of financing solutions including senior secured loans, mezzanine debt, and equity investments. Ares Capital plays a pivotal role in facilitating the growth and operational transitions of numerous enterprises across diverse industries by providing crucial investment capital. Notably, the firm operates under a business development company (BDC) format, allowing it to distribute substantial portions of its income directly to shareholders, aligning with its operational strategy aimed at long-term capital appreciation and income generation.
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Basic Stats
The share price of Ares Capital Corporation as of September 5, 2025 is $22.44 / share. This is an increase of 0.18% from the prior week. The market cap (or net worth) of Ares Capital Corporation as of September 5, 2025 is $15,842.64 MM.
The Factor Analysis chart (below right) shows a view of Ares Capital Corporation from a variety of lenses. Each factor shows how well the company ranks against all other companies in the Fintel global investing universe. Factor scores range from zero to 100, with 100 being most desirable, and 50 being average.
For example, a company with a Value Score of 100 would be the most undervalued company in our database. A company with a Value Score of zero would be the most overvalued.
| Market Cap | 15,842.64 MM |
| EV | 29,672.64 MM |
| Shares Out. | 706.00 MM |
| Earnings Date | |
| EPS (TTM) | 1.92 |
| Dividend Yield | 8.56 % |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2025-09-15 |
| Borrow Rate | 0.30 |
| Short Shares Avail. | 5.90 MM |
| Short Interest | 17.51 MM |
| Short Float | |
| Days to Cover | 6.06 days |
| Risk Free Rate | 4.17 % |
| Price Change (1 yr) | 7.57 % |
| Volatility (1 yr) | 0.20 |
| Beta | 0.74 |
| Sharpe Ratio (1 yr) | 0.16 |
| Sortino Ratio (1 yr) | 0.25 |
| PE Ratio | 11.71 |
| Price/Book | 1.13 |
| Price/TBV | 1.13 |
| Book/Market | 0.89 |
| EBIT/EV | 0.05 |
| EBIT(3yr avg)/EV | 0.05 |
| ROA | 0.05 |
| ROE | 0.11 |
| ROIC | 0.05 |
| CROIC | -0.00 |
| OCROIC | -0.05 |
| Implied Volatility | 14.04 % |
| Put/Call OI Ratio | 1.51 |
Factor Scores range from 0 to 100, with 100 being most desirable. Larger circles are better. In situations where we have no data (e.g. no insider trades), we plot the score at 50 to avoid penalizing companies. However, a company that does not pay dividends will get a Dividend Score of Zero. Additionally, we inverted volatility to create a "stability" metric which is better when higher.
Price Target
The average one-year price target for Ares Capital Corporation is $23.76. The forecasts range from a low of $22.22 to a high of $27.30. A stock’s price target is the price at which analysts consider it fairly valued with respect to its projected earnings and historical earnings. Analysts typically set price targets that correspond to their buy or sell recommendations.
Update Frequency: Monthly
Stock Upgrades/Downgrades
This card shows analyst upgrades/downgrades for Ares Capital Corporation. An analyst rating is a classification that gives investors a sense of analyst sentiment about the direction and performance of an equity - usually a stock - over a period of time, typically 12 months.
The standard analyst ratings are generally as follows:
- Buy/Overweight/Outperform - Any of these ratings conveys an analyst’s belief that the stock is likely to outperform a market index (e.g. the S&P 500).
- Hold/Equal-Weight/Market Perform - Any of these ratings conveys an analyst’s belief that the stock is likely to perform in line with a market index.
- Sell/Underweight/Underperform - Any of these ratings suggest that an analyst believes the stock is likely to underperform a market index.
When an analyst upgrades a stock, they are signaling that the company’s fundamentals are being undervalued by investors. It could also mean they believe the market is underestimating the company’s potential. The opposite is true when a stock receives a downgrade.
The average rating of each individual analyst’s rating is the consensus rating for a stock. This gives investors a broader sense of the overall sentiment for that stock.
| Date | Analyst | Prior | Latest Recommendation |
Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-27 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2022-10-26 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2022-10-26 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2022-10-24 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2022-07-28 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2022-07-27 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2022-04-27 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2022-04-27 | JP Morgan | Neutral | Overweight | Upgrade |
| 2022-04-25 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2022-02-10 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-12-03 | Janney Montgomery Scott | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2021-10-27 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-10-25 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2021-08-02 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-07-30 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-04-29 | Wedbush | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-04-29 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-02-11 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2021-01-08 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2020-12-10 | Barclays | Overweight | Equal-Weight | Downgrade |
| 2020-10-27 | Janney Capital | Neutral | Buy | Upgrade |
| 2020-08-05 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2020-06-24 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2020-06-17 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2020-05-04 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2020-04-16 | Raymond James | Market Perform | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2020-04-13 | Oppenheimer | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2020-04-13 | B of A Securities | Neutral | Buy | Upgrade |
| 2020-04-07 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2020-04-02 | Compass Point | Neutral | Buy | Upgrade |
| 2020-03-25 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2019-11-12 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Initiate | |
| 2019-10-22 | Raymond James | Outperform | Market Perform | Downgrade |
| 2019-08-23 | Compass Point | Buy | Neutral | Downgrade |
| 2019-08-19 | BMO Capital | Market Perform | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2019-07-31 | Raymond James | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2019-02-13 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Market Outperform | Maintains |
| 2018-08-23 | Citigroup | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2018-06-04 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Market Outperform | Maintains |
| 2018-04-11 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2017-12-06 | Compass Point | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2017-11-28 | Wedbush | Outperform | Initiate | |
| 2016-10-31 | Janney Capital | Neutral | Initiate | |
| 2016-08-18 | UBS | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2016-08-09 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2016-08-04 | Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2016-06-28 | National Securities | Neutral | Initiate | |
| 2016-02-25 | Jefferies | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2016-02-25 | Barclays | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2015-10-01 | Macquarie | Neutral | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2015-09-29 | DA Davidson | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2015-09-03 | Cantor Fitzgerald | Hold | Maintains | |
| 2015-08-28 | Raymond James | Market Perform | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2015-08-21 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2015-07-01 | Jefferies | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2015-07-01 | Cantor Fitzgerald | Hold | Initiate | |
| 2015-06-30 | Jefferies | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2015-06-19 | Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2015-06-18 | Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2015-05-04 | BB&T Capital | Buy | Hold | Downgrade |
| 2015-02-27 | Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Maintains | |
| 2015-02-27 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2014-12-18 | Barclays | Equal-Weight | Overweight | Upgrade |
| 2014-08-07 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2013-08-20 | Sterne Agee | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2013-08-08 | Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Market Perform | Downgrade |
| 2013-08-07 | Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Market Perform | Downgrade |
| 2013-06-13 | Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Outperform | Upgrade |
| 2013-04-24 | JP Morgan | Neutral | Overweight | Upgrade |
| 2013-03-04 | Bank of America | Buy | Neutral | Downgrade |
| 2013-01-15 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Neutral | Downgrade |
| 2012-12-11 | Barclays | Equal-Weight | Maintains | |
| 2012-11-06 | Stifel Nicolaus | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2012-08-08 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2012-05-08 | Ladenburg Thalmann | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2012-03-01 | Ladenburg Thalmann | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2023-02-08 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2023-02-08 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Maintains | |
| 2023-03-13 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Reiterate | |
| 2023-04-18 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Equal-Weight | Downgrade |
| 2023-04-28 | Citigroup | Buy | Maintains | |
| 2023-04-26 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2023-04-27 | JMP Securities | Outperform | Maintains | |
| 2023-06-16 | B. Riley Securities | Buy | Initiate | |
| 2023-10-25 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2023-07-26 | Citigroup | Buy | Buy | Maintains |
| 2023-07-26 | Wells Fargo | Equal-Weight | Equal-Weight | Maintains |
| 2023-07-26 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperformer | Maintains |
| 2023-07-26 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Market Outperform | Reiterate |
| 2024-05-02 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2024-05-02 | Truist Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintains |
| 2024-05-02 | Oppenheimer | Outperform | Outperform | Maintains |
| 2024-03-26 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Market Outperform | Reiterate |
| 2024-01-08 | B. Riley Securities | Buy | Neutral | Downgrade |
| 2024-05-23 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Reiterate |
| 2024-01-29 | Wells Fargo | Equal-Weight | Equal-Weight | Maintains |
| 2024-07-30 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Market Outperform | Maintains |
| 2024-10-31 | B. Riley Securities | Neutral | Neutral | Maintains |
| 2025-07-30 | B. Riley Securities | Neutral | Buy | Upgrade |
| 2025-02-07 | Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Outperform | Maintains |
| 2025-02-07 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintains |
| 2024-08-05 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Reiterate |
| 2025-02-06 | Raymond James | Outperform | Market Perform | Downgrade |
| 2025-04-30 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-01-29 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2024-12-02 | Wells Fargo | Equal-Weight | Overweight | Upgrade |
| 2025-02-03 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-02-06 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-04-24 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-07-30 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-07-30 | Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Outperform | Maintains |
| 2025-04-08 | Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Outperform | Maintains |
| 2025-07-16 | UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintains |
| 2025-06-27 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-04-17 | UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintains |
| 2025-04-28 | Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintains |
| 2025-05-06 | RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintains |
| 2025-07-31 | JMP Securities | Market Outperform | Market Outperform | Maintains |
