Rathbones Group PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its Ares Capital position by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 59,483 shares and leaving it with 379,324 shares worth about $7.67 million.
• Other institutions were active in ARCC as well, with firms like UBS Group AG and Bank of America increasing stakes, while hedge funds continued to hold a meaningful share of the stock overall.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive despite some lower price targets: ARCC has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $20.75, and the company also declared a $0.48 quarterly dividend yielding about 10.2%.

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 379,324 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 59,483 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.05% of Ares Capital worth $7,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $226,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,301,890 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $36,943,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Ares Capital by 8.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $190,572,000 after purchasing an additional 705,882 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,766,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 182.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 893,834 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $18,243,000 after purchasing an additional 577,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ARCC shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ARCC opened at $18.74 on Friday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.40 and a 12-month high of $23.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The firm had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $778.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. Ares Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.79%.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation NASDAQ: ARCC is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm's flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.

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