UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Raises PT to $18 on Ares Capital Corporation Post Earnings Beat

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated its Buy rating on Ares Capital Corporation ARCC and increased its price target from $17.50 to $18. Stifel Nicolaus noted, "We continue to believe ARCC represents an attractive risk/return opportunity in the BDC sector although if the stock would approach our new $18.00 target price, based on the information we currently have, we will likely have a difficult time moving the target price much higher. The stock is trading at 1.11x book value, has a current dividend yield of 8.7% (or a 9.9% dividend yield if it continues to pay a $0.05 special dividend each quarter which we believe is likely to continue) and a 2013 earnings yield of 9.3%." Ares Capital Corporation closed at $17.46 on Monday.