UMB Bank n.a. Takes $1.17 Million Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,873 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,172,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ares Capital by 12.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 871,370 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $84,426,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,651 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $77,133,000 after buying an additional 105,526 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.6%

Ares Capital stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.34. The company had a trading volume of 4,409,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,139,778. The stock has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.02 and a 200 day moving average of $21.95.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.