Stephens Inc. AR Increases Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

by · The Markets Daily

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC – Free Report) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,111,423 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,468 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR owned 0.18% of Ares Capital worth $23,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 62.7% during the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCC. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Get Our Latest Report on ARCC

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.14 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $18.86 and a 12-month high of $22.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.94. The company has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.08%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

About Ares Capital

(Free Report)

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in 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 the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.

See Also

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