Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 10.9%, holding a total of 1,259,805 shares valued at approximately $27.9 million.
• Ares Capital announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, yielding 8.5% annually, with a payout ratio of 93.66%.
• Research analysts have set an average target price of $22.86 for Ares Capital, with the stock currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by the majority of analysts.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,259,805 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 124,196 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.18% of Ares Capital worth $27,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% in the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% in the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 281.3% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARCC. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 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 from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $22.56. 3,573,384 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,441,459. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. 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 $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.02.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 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.