Sigma Planning Corp Boosts Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,519 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,528 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% during the first quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 67,158 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 3,921 shares during the period. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 18.9% during the first quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 83,545 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,851,000 after buying an additional 13,270 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 9.4% during the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,250,087 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $27,702,000 after buying an additional 107,228 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.9% during the first quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 87,289 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 7,134 shares during the period. Finally, Callahan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,729,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,206,797. The company has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.67. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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 lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.21.

Ares Capital Company 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.