B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases 21,997 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 153,130 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,997 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lincoln National Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,665 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Baron Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Baron Financial Group LLC now owns 18,366 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108,577 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 12,787 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 18,491 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $20.71 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.99 and a 200 day moving average of $20.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.00 and a 1 year high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.75%.

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.