Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Position Raised by Palisade Capital Management LP

Palisade Capital Management LP boosted its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 579,985 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,999 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.08% of Ares Capital worth $12,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 139,214 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,047,000 after buying an additional 11,827 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $2,872,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,213,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,206,623. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.93.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The company's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of 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 dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, B. Riley raised Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

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.