Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 47,999 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 26.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,630 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,999 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $84,426,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted 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 worth $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 worth $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted 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 worth $174,068,000 after buying an additional 871,370 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted 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 worth $28,512,000 after buying an additional 852,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,868,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,213,857. The company's 50-day moving average price is $21.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.99. The company has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. Ares Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.21.

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.