Columbus Macro LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 447,906 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,982 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up approximately 1.2% of Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Columbus Macro LLC owned 0.06% of Ares Capital worth $9,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 320.7% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 193.9% in the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 121.1% in the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.67.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.8%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company 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.