Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Holdings Increased by Challenger Wealth Management

Key Points

• Challenger Wealth Management increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 9.7%, making ARCC the fund's 4th largest position with holdings valued at $5.27 million.
• Ares Capital reported $0.50 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing expectations slightly, and had a net margin of 44.94%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, yielding 8.6%, and has a payout ratio of 93.66%.

Challenger Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 237,939 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,941 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up approximately 4.2% of Challenger Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Challenger Wealth Management's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 241,119 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $5,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 18.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,840 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 7,381 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 23,571.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,314 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,116.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,274 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 12,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,361 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. B. Riley raised Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.30. 4,924,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,885,228. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The company's 50-day moving average price is $22.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.87. The company has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

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