HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 335,197 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,870,130 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 335,197 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $71,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. VPR Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. VPR Management LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Advisory Solutions Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter worth $68,000. Finally, TOP Private Wealth LLC. acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the second quarter worth $31,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.57. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $22.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.33 and a 200-day moving average of $18.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 30.91%.The business had revenue of $768.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 142.22%.

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.