AA Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 117.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,328 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,707 shares during the quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $190,572,000 after buying an additional 705,882 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,900,015 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $161,239,000 after acquiring an additional 836,826 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 6.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,794,378 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $83,353,000 after acquiring an additional 225,984 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 825.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,711 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $77,996,000 after acquiring an additional 3,167,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,226,668 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $65,856,000 after acquiring an additional 225,028 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $17.45 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.95. 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 company has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.59. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $23.42.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $793.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 103.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.29 per share, with a total value of $100,037.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at $761,241.27. This trade represents a 15.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the acquisition, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Capital Profile

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.