Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Bought by Cetera Investment Advisers

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 8.5%, owning approximately $24.93 million worth of shares after acquiring additional stock in the first quarter.
• Ares Capital reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.50 for its recent quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.54.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 8.31%.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,124,794 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 88,104 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.16% of Ares Capital worth $24,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in 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 valued at $58,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198,580 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 12.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 871,370 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 189.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,302,501 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $28,512,000 after purchasing an additional 852,801 shares during the period. Finally, Spinnaker Trust purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities set a $23.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered 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 report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.80. 1,568,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,593,080. The company has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.67. 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 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 44.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 dividend yield of 8.42%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company 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.