Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Buys 14,646 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.0%, owning 309,174 shares valued at approximately $6.85 million as of its latest filing.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in ARCC, with Two Sigma Investments LP growing its stake by 81% and JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 26% during the fourth quarter.
• Ares Capital's stock has faced a reduction in price targets from several analysts, with the average consensus price target now at $22.21 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 309,174 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,646 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $6,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 320.7% during the first 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 stake in Ares Capital by 193.9% during the first 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 increased its stake in Ares Capital by 121.1% during the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in Ares Capital by 281.3% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.5%

ARCC stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.29. 1,891,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,600,591. The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.24 and its 200-day moving average is $22.05. The company has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on Ares Capital and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.86.

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.