Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $23.84 Million Position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,076,008 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 67,597 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. owned about 0.16% of Ares Capital worth $23,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Ares Capital by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2,116.0% in the 1st 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. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 361.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $314,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.95. 4,547,644 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,188,571. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital 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.