Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1,946.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,749 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 110,092 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.9% during the first quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 27,713 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,530 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,186 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.0% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,956 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.60.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $18.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.99. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $23.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The business had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $778.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.79%.

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.