MCF Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 25.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,922 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 218.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,960 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,345 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Ares Capital by 137.2% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,142 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $21.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.55 and a 12 month high of $21.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.21%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Ares Capital Profile

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.