Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Position

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,673,372 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 42,674 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Ares Capital worth $31,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 145.2% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. TOP Private Wealth LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.39.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.6%

ARCC opened at $19.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ares Capital Corporation has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $21.14.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The investment management company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $776.34 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 157.38%.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and, to a lesser extent, equity securities. Its investments are generally designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives, and other corporate activities.

Founded in 2004, Ares Capital is externally managed by Ares Capital Management LLC, an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation.