Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires 27,860 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Key Points

• Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation by 3.9% during Q2, acquiring an additional 27,860 shares, bringing its total to 750,266 shares valued at approximately $16.48 million.
• Research firms recently upgraded Ares Capital's stock rating, with B. Riley setting a new target price of $23.50, indicating a positive outlook from multiple analysts.
• Ares Capital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, yielding 9.8%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 93.66%.

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750,266 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,860 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 0.9% of Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. owned about 0.11% of Ares Capital worth $16,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its stake 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARCC. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Capital One Financial set a $22.50 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.63.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.68. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.53.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $614.00 million for 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 prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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