Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 12,173 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 425,548 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 12,173 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Ares Capital worth $9,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $20.34 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.49. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $14.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $658.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.48 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 45.16%.The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.00%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Capital

In related news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel acquired 13,000 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $265,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 28,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,920. This represents a 86.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ARCC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.25.

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.