Confluence Investment Management LLC Has $83.38 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired an additional 21,344 shares of Ares Capital Corporation, bringing its total holdings to approximately 3.8 million shares, valued at around $83.4 million.
• Ares Capital reported earnings of $0.50 per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, and has a current dividend yield of 8.6%.
• Research firms have shown increased confidence in Ares Capital's stock, with upgrades from several analysts and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", targeting a price of $22.86.

Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,796,791 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 21,344 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.55% of Ares Capital worth $83,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in 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 increased its position in Ares Capital by 193.9% during the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% during the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $21.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,204,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,431,121. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.84. The company has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released 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 business 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 period last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.66%.

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.