Equities research analysts at Citigroup (NYSE: C) lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital (NASDAQ: ARCC) to $17.00 in a research note to investors on Friday. The analysts currently have a "buy" rating on the stock.

Separately, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, July 27th. Also, analysts at Evercore Partners upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, May 4th.

Shares of Ares Capital traded down 3.26% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $15.72. Ares Capital has a 52 week low of $13.92 and a 52 week high of $17.97. The stock's 50-day moving average is $15.96 and its 200-day moving average is $16.74. The company has a market cap of $3.225 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.33.

Ares Capital last announced its quarterly results on Thursday, August 4th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the previous quarter, meeting the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ares Capital will post $0.36 EPS next quarter.

Ares Capital Corporation (Ares Capital) is a specialty finance company, which is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. Ares Capital's investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments. It invests in United States middle-market companies. It invests primarily in first and second lien senior loans and mezzanine debt, which in some cases includes an equity component like warrants. First and second lien senior loans generally are senior debt instruments that rank ahead of subordinated debt of a given portfolio company. Its investments have ranged between $10 million and $100 million each, although the investment sizes may be more or less than the targeted range. The Company’s investment adviser is Ares Capital Management LLC. In April 2010, Ares Capital Corporation completed its merger with Allied Capital Corporation. Read More