Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 36,636 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 828,779 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 36,636 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. owned about 0.15% of Ares Capital worth $16,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,282,079 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $165,890,000 after buying an additional 840,823 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $844,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,570 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 0.8% in the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,043,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $59,251,000 after purchasing an additional 23,276 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,047,849 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $41,105,000 after purchasing an additional 24,302 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,954,786 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $39,154,000 after purchasing an additional 66,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.50.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.35. 1,933,749 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,541,835. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.00 and a 52-week high of $21.53. The company has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 62.77% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.85 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.