Granite FO LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Granite FO LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 237,965 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,959,000. Ares Capital accounts for about 3.2% of Granite FO LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 389,236 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,913,000 after purchasing an additional 20,202 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,384,752 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $27,737,000 after acquiring an additional 85,561 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at $86,227,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 151.4% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 27,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 206.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.78. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $18.55 and a twelve month high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $714.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.