Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 4.2% during the first quarter, owning approximately 3.57 million shares valued at $79.07 million after selling over 156,000 shares.
• Ares Capital announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, set to be paid on September 30th, reflecting a dividend yield of 8.7% and a payout ratio of approximately 93.66%.
• The stock's most recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.50, missing expectations, and revenue of $614 million, significantly below the consensus estimate of $748.76 million.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,568,394 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 156,014 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of Ares Capital worth $79,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% during the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% during the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 281.3% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC opened at $22.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.94. 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 company has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 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 Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.7%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. JMP Securities set a $23.00 target price on Ares Capital and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.86.

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.

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