NewEdge Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 14.3%, owning 119,730 shares worth approximately $2.65 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Ares Capital's stock is currently trading at $22.35, with a 52-week range between $18.26 and $23.84.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, which represents an annualized yield of 8.6%.

NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,730 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 15,025 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV boosted its position in Ares Capital by 193.9% during the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Ares Capital by 281.3% during 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 period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARCC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $22.30. 4,924,315 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,885,228. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.88.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.The firm had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.