GraniteShares Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 73,675 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 73,675 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,476,000. Ares Capital makes up approximately 1.3% of GraniteShares Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1,865.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $844,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,570 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,441,256 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $144,881,000 after acquiring an additional 708,568 shares in the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $13,992,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 160.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,117,111 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $23,403,000 after acquiring an additional 687,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 2,361,573 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $49,475,000 after acquiring an additional 621,814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock remained flat at $20.24 during trading hours on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 3,161,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,684,926. The company has a market cap of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $17.53 and a 52 week high of $20.86. The stock's 50 day moving average is $20.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $707.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.78 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. Ares Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.49%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 71.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley cut Ares Capital from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.80.

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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