13,905 Shares in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Bought by Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC has newly invested approximately $308,000 in Ares Capital Corporation, acquiring 13,905 shares during the first quarter.
• Research analysts have generally raised their price targets for Ares Capital, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $22.86.
• Ares Capital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, reflecting an annualized yield of 8.6%, with a payout ratio of 93.66%.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,905 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 281.3% during the 1st 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 during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. B. Riley raised Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,924,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,885,228. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.88. 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 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS 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 return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.