iA Global Asset Management Inc. Invests $9.05 Million in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management Inc. has acquired 408,569 shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC), valued at approximately $9,054,000, representing 0.06% ownership of the company.
• Several hedge funds, including Allspring Global Investments and Bessemer Group Inc., have recently increased their stakes in Ares Capital, indicating growing institutional interest.
• Ares Capital plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share on September 30th, reflecting an annualized yield of 8.5% and a payout ratio of 93.66%.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 408,569 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $9,054,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Ares Capital as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV boosted 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 buying an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.56. The company had a trading volume of 3,573,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,441,459. The stock has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Corporation has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.02. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.