ARES CAPITAL CORP (ARCC) earns a Piotroski F-score of 1/9 (weak financial health). It pays a dividend yielding 9.68% (safety: at-risk).
Quality score trend · recomputed for each fiscal year
Each year's score is computed from that year's filing — a rising Piotroski F or Altman Z″ means improving financial health, a fall is worth a look.
Analyst price target
Recent analyst actions
| Date | Firm | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-30 | Truist Securities | Buy (main) |
| 2026-07-30 | Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Outperform (main) |
| 2026-07-02 | JP Morgan | Overweight (main) |
| 2026-06-12 | Wells Fargo | Equal-Weight (down) |
| 2026-04-29 | RBC Capital | Outperform (main) |
| 2026-04-29 | Truist Securities | Buy (main) |
Wall Street analyst consensus — a sentiment gauge, not our scoring.
Forward estimates · earnings calendar →
Consensus analyst estimates and scheduled dates — forward-looking, may change.
Smart money · insiders, last 12 months
Open-market insider purchases minus sells (SEC Form 4) — real buying with their own money is a bullish “smart money” signal; grants and option exercises are excluded.
Piotroski F breakdown · 1/9 tests passed
- Positive return on assets
- Positive operating cash flow
- Rising ROA
- Cash flow exceeds net income
- Lower long-term debt
- Rising current ratio
- No share dilution
- Rising gross margin
- Rising asset turnover
About ARES CAPITAL CORP
Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in growth capital, 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 sports, media & entertainment, industrials & business services, infrastructure & power, financial institution groups, software & technology, specialty healthcare, consumer, retail & services, energy and the basic and growth manufacturing, consumer products, health care products, and information technology service sectors. The fund will also consider investments in industries such as restaurants, retail, oil and gas, and technology sectors. It invests in the United States based companies. It focuses on investments in Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest regions from its New York office, the Midwest region, from the Chicago office, and the Western region from the Los Angeles office. The fund typically invests between $30 million and $500 million, in companies with an EBITDA between $10 million and $250 million. It makes debt investments between $10 million and $100 million The fund invests through revolvers, first lien loans, warrants, unitranche structures, second lien loans, mezzanine debt, private high yield, junior capital, subordinated debt, and non-control preferred and common equity. The fund also selectively considers third-party-led senior and subordinated debt financings and opportunistically considers the purchase of stressed and discounted debt positions. The fund prefers to be an agent and/or lead the transactions in which it invests. The fund also seeks board representation in its portfolio companies.
FAQ
Is ARCC financially healthy?
ARES CAPITAL CORP's Piotroski F-score is 1/9 (8–9 is excellent, 0–3 weak).
Does ARCC pay a dividend, and is it safe?
Yes. ARES CAPITAL CORP pays a dividend yielding about 9.68% with a 97.3% payout ratio, rated “at-risk” for safety.
How profitable is ARCC?
In FY2025, ARES CAPITAL CORP had a return on equity of 9.1%.
Is ARCC overvalued or undervalued?
ARES CAPITAL CORP trades at about 10.7× trailing earnings — above its 10-year norm (10-year range 6.3×–16.3×, median 9.7×). Stocktoria reports the data, not buy/sell advice.
What is the analyst price target for ARCC?
The average Wall-Street price target for ARES CAPITAL CORP is $20.62, about 3.8% above the recent price, from 13 analysts (consensus: buy).
Is ARCC a good stock to buy?
Stocktoria doesn't give buy or sell advice, but here is the data on ARES CAPITAL CORP: a Piotroski F-score of 1/9, a P/E of about 10.1×, a dividend yield of 9.68%. Weigh these quality and valuation signals against your own goals.
Computed from company filings · US · as of 2025-12-31. Facts plus Stocktoria's own computed scores — not investment advice.