Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Position Trimmed by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC decreased its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 56,737 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 92,734 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.3% during the third quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,394 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 10.0% during the second quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.3% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 44,755 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 57,092 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at $761,241.27. This represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.13 per share, with a total value of $239,125.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,765. This trade represents a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $17.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.59.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio 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.