Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Bought by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 75.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,070 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 80,204 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $174,068,000 after buying an additional 871,370 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,651 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $77,133,000 after acquiring an additional 105,526 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $58,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,378,835 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $52,715,000 after acquiring an additional 64,566 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,530,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,598,611. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.24 and a 200-day moving average of $22.05.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ARCC. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley raised Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.86.

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.