Current Report: Ares Capital Could Gain 18% This Year

Ares Capital (ARCC) was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

As a traded fund, Ares invests in US and Canadian companies with EBITDA of USD 10 - 250 million.

The fund targets health care services, software & services, consumer durables & apparel, energy, food & beverage, and retail companies.

Three key data points gauge ARCC (or any dividend-paying entity):

(1) Price 

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three keys also indicate if any company has made, is making, and will make money.

ARCC Price

Aries’ single share price fell $4.97 (or 19.72%) from $22.16 to $17.88 last year, per Wednesday’s morning market report.

Fourteen analysts cover the stock. The median of their one-year price targets set a price of $21.88, $4.00 higher.

However, Ares’ average annual price increase was $1.37 over the past six years.  So I’ll use that amount for the following calculations.

ARCC Dividends

Ares Capital has paid quarterly dividends since January 2005. The March 2026 Q dividend of $0.48 was paid to shareholders on March 31st, which portends a $1.92 annual dividend payout.

ARCC Returns

Putting it all together, a possible annual gross gain of $3.29 per share is predicted by adding the $1.92 forward-looking dividend to a 1yr $1.37 estimated annual price-gain this year.

A little over $1000 invested at Tuesday’s $17.88 share price would buy 56 shares which multiply the $3.29 estimated gross gain to a $184.24 upside for the coming year.

57.8% of that $184 upside gain could come from a $106.50 annual dividend payout from your $1,000 investment.

And the $106.50 annual dividend from $1k invested is nearly 6 times higher than Aries’ $17.88 single share price.

A dividend dogcatcher rule is to only buy initial shares of a stock that pay an annual dividend (from $1000 invested) that is more than the cost of a single share.

Aries’ dividend is 5.95 times over its share price. 

The exact track of Aries’ future share price and dividend will entirely be determined by market action and company finances.    

Remember, the best way to track stock performance and dividend payments is through direct ownership of company shares.