Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stake in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,183,795 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,535 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $21,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,558,581 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $355,210,000 after purchasing an additional 341,578 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Ares Capital by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $226,615,000 after buying an additional 3,301,890 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the first quarter worth about $189,210,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $190,572,000 after acquiring an additional 705,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $109,432,000 after acquiring an additional 761,838 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $18.73 on Monday. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.10.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 117.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

Ares Capital Company 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.