Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 87,934 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 28.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,517 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 87,934 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of Ares Capital worth $8,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,564 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARCC. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.36 and a 200-day moving average of $21.92. The company has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.68.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for 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%. The business'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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.94%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 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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