Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 34,937 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,706,211 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 34,937 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $30,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 6.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,502 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth about $273,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 14.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,835,007 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $62,824,000 after purchasing an additional 358,829 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 139.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,655 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 16,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 1st quarter worth about $14,766,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.60.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $18.64 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.56. Ares Capital Corporation has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $23.42.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The firm had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.79%.

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.