SlateStone Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Key Points

• SlateStone Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.0%, selling 15,142 shares and ending with a total of 201,924 shares worth $4,475,000.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Ares Capital, with price targets ranging from $21.00 to $24.50 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Ares Capital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, yielding 8.52%, to be paid on September 30th to shareholders of record by September 15th.

SlateStone Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,924 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 15,142 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.5% in the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.2% in the first quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,961 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.6% in the first quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 104,519 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,316,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,776 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC remained flat at $22.63 during trading on Thursday. 5,421,056 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,014,072. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.05. The stock has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.67. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million during 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.5%. 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.