Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Position Increased by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 189,212 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,446 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 341.4% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 68,246 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 52,783 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the first quarter worth approximately $238,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 280.3% in the fourth quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 39,907 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 29,414 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,126,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. B. Riley increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $20.50 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. TheStreet upgraded Ares Capital from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, May 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ares Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.00.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.7 %

ARCC opened at $19.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $16.53 and a 1-year high of $20.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.42 and a 200-day moving average of $18.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $634.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.26 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 36.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.72%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.36%.

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.