Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 40,837 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 557,492 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 40,837 shares during the quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Ares Capital worth $11,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,502 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $273,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,835,007 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $62,824,000 after acquiring an additional 358,829 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 139.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,655 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 16,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth $14,766,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Activity at Ares Capital

In related news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.13 per share, with a total value of $239,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at $774,765. This trade represents a 44.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem purchased 5,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at $761,241.27. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of ARCC opened at $18.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.59. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.17 and a twelve month high of $23.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.42.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $793.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.23%.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.