Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Position Trimmed by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 59.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 45,971 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.1 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $20.80 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $18.28 and a 1-year high of $21.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Ares Capital

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.