Allen Investment Management LLC Buys 230,924 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Key Points

• Allen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) by 8.4%, owning nearly 3 million shares valued at approximately $65.93 million, which is about 0.8% of its total portfolio.
• Ares Capital reported an EPS of $0.50 for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' estimates of $0.54, with revenue of $599 million, also below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 8.31% and a payout ratio of 93.66%.

Allen Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,975,197 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 230,924 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 0.8% of Allen Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Allen Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.43% of Ares Capital worth $65,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $58,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198,580 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $174,068,000 after acquiring an additional 871,370 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 189.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,302,501 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $28,512,000 after acquiring an additional 852,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,390,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. B. Riley raised Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.71.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,034,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,599,458. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $22.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.05. The firm has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.67. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The company had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.43%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company 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.