Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by Muzinich & Co. Inc.

Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 17.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,125,251 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 163,420 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 14.2% of Muzinich & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Muzinich & Co. Inc. owned about 0.16% of Ares Capital worth $24,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 139,214 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 11,827 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $557,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $314,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 437,215 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $9,575,000 after acquiring an additional 71,408 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.21.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,474,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,215,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The business's 50 day moving average price is $22.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.01. The company has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.67.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a net margin of 43.50% and a return on equity of 11.05%. The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Ares Capital 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.