Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management cut its Ares Capital stake by 82.3% in the third quarter, selling 232,421 shares and retaining 50,000 shares worth about $955,000.
• Ares Capital missed quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.46 versus $0.48 expected and revenue of $763 million versus $776.34 million expected; revenue fell 2.4% year over year.
• The company declared a $0.48 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 9.9% annualized yield. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $20.39.

International Assets Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 82.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,000 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 232,421 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,306,095 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $246,562,000 after buying an additional 2,418,984 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $165,569,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its position in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 7,950,908 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $151,862,000 after buying an additional 402,913 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $120,538,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 9.5% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,870,130 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $71,714,000 after buying an additional 335,197 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.39.

Ares Capital Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $19.46 on Thursday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year high of $21.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $19.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 0.60.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The investment management company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.9%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 157.38%.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation NASDAQ: ARCC is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and, to a lesser extent, equity securities. Its investments are generally designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives, and other corporate activities.

Founded in 2004, Ares Capital is externally managed by Ares Capital Management LLC, an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation.

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