Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Acquired by Prairiewood Capital LLC

Key Points

• Prairiewood Capital LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 12.2%, acquiring an additional 23,915 shares, making it the firm's 17th largest holding valued at approximately $4.83 million.
• Ares Capital recently reported Q2 earnings of $0.50 per share, slightly missing estimates, with a net margin of 44.94% and revenue of $614 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share with a yield of 9.4%, to be paid out on September 30th.

Prairiewood Capital LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 12.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,136 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,915 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for about 1.8% of Prairiewood Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Prairiewood Capital LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Community Trust & Investment Co. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.3% in the second quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 150,072 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.1% in the first quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.5% in the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.1% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 47,935 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ARCC shares. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $20.46 on Friday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $22.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.The firm had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

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.

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