Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 761,838 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 761,838 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $109,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 98,293 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 10,968 shares during the last quarter. Condor Capital Management raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 231,926 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $738,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 31,169 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 11,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,688 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $18.81 on Friday. Ares Capital Corporation has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $23.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.54 and its 200 day moving average is $19.44. The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 37.30% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $778.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ARCC. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.75.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.