SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 531,499 Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC has acquired 531,499 shares of Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC), valued at approximately $11.78 million, increasing their ownership to about 0.08% of the company.
• Recent analyst upgrades include Wells Fargo raising the price target from $22.00 to $23.00 and B. Riley upgrading from "neutral" to "buy," reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.
• Ares Capital has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, with a yield of 8.5%, and has a dividend payout ratio of 93.66%.

SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 531,499 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $11,778,000. SCS Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Ares Capital as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARCC. Prostatis Group LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.1% during the first quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.5% during the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.2% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 47,935 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,961 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.6% during the first quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 104,519 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,316,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC traded down $0.10 on Friday, hitting $22.30. 4,924,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,885,228. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.87.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on Ares Capital and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.86.

About Ares Capital

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.