Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Increases Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,550 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.'s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% in the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ARCC stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $21.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,588,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,187,136. The stock has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.91.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS 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 business had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.83%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

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.