Jump Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC significantly reduced its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by selling 137,803 shares, resulting in a 91.9% decrease in its holdings, now at 12,204 shares valued at $270,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Ares Capital, with Bank of America notably raising its stake by 12.3%, owning nearly 8 million shares valued at $174 million.
• Ares Capital's latest earnings report showed it missed the consensus EPS estimate by one cent, reporting $0.50 per share and a net margin of 44.94%, with the company announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share.

Jump Financial LLC lessened its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 91.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,204 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 137,803 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV raised 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 281.3% in the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $22.49. 1,944,162 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,394,935. The company has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.89. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.