3,540 Shares in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Acquired by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,540 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.3% during the second quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 150,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Prostatis Group LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.1% during the first quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.5% during the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 3.1% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 47,935 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on ARCC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Capital One Financial set a $22.50 price objective on Ares Capital in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.0%

Ares Capital stock opened at $18.90 on Friday. 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 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.62.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The business had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.2%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

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.