Northeast Financial Consultants Inc Acquires 155,924 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 22.2% during the first quarter, holding about 857,410 shares, which accounts for approximately 0.8% of their investment portfolio.
• Ares Capital reported $0.50 EPS for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations of $0.51 EPS, with a revenue of $614 million, significantly below the forecasted $748.76 million.
• The company's upcoming quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share reflects an annualized dividend yield of 8.5%, with a payout ratio of 93.66%.

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc lifted its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 22.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 857,410 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 155,924 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up about 0.8% of Northeast Financial Consultants Inc's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc owned 0.12% of Ares Capital worth $19,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its position in Ares Capital by 193.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 121.1% during the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its position in Ares Capital by 281.3% during the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.30. 4,924,315 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,966,653. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $22.55 and its 200 day moving average is $21.86. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.86.

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.