Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Acquired by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 1.8%, now owning 913,430 shares valued at approximately $20.24 million.
• Ares Capital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, resulting in a dividend yield of 8.6%.
• Analysts have upgraded Ares Capital to a "moderate buy" with a consensus price target of $22.86, reflecting positive sentiment towards the stock.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 913,430 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,434 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Ares Capital worth $20,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 87.2% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,621,109 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,084,000 after buying an additional 1,220,570 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $174,068,000 after acquiring an additional 871,370 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 189.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,302,501 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $28,512,000 after acquiring an additional 852,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 26.5% in the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,799,023 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $62,026,000 after purchasing an additional 587,068 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on Ares Capital and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.44. 3,403,286 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,972,282. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.70.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 93.66%.

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.