Transce3nd LLC Acquires 10,719 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Transce3nd LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,696 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,719 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 0.8% of Transce3nd LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Transce3nd LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ares Capital by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $174,068,000 after acquiring an additional 871,370 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after purchasing an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,651 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $77,133,000 after acquiring an additional 105,526 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,378,835 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $52,715,000 after purchasing an additional 64,566 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.21.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,474,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,215,685. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 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 quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million during 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%. Ares Capital's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

About Ares Capital

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.