Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 12,488 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,329 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 12,488 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clarus Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.6% in the first quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 356,439 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $7,899,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. EWG Elevate Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.0% in the first quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 152,084 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,451 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2.5% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 455,415 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $10,092,000 after acquiring an additional 11,250 shares during the period. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 247,028 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $5,474,000 after acquiring an additional 4,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.21. 3,131,278 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,841,128. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.65%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.