Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 184.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 507,795 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 329,571 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.08% of Ares Capital worth $11,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.56. 1,685,575 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,146,627. The company has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.70. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.91%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Profile

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.