Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Purchased by Baugh & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Baugh & Associates LLC increased its Ares Capital stake by 32% in the first quarter, buying 73,672 more shares and bringing its total to 304,122 shares worth about $5.48 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions in ARCC, and hedge funds now own about 27.38% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on Ares Capital, with a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $20.65, while the stock recently traded at $18.03 and offers a 10.6% dividend yield.

Baugh & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 32.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,122 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 73,672 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 2.4% of Baugh & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,502 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $273,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 14.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,835,007 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $62,824,000 after purchasing an additional 358,829 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 139.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,655 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 16,128 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth about $14,766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.65.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $18.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.77 and a 200 day moving average of $19.28. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $23.42.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 37.30% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $778.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.6%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 117.79%.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation NASDAQ: ARCC is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm's flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.

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