World Equity Group Inc. Invests $463,000 in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,832 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. PSI Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% in the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $21.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.93. 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 1.02, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The company had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

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.

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