Confluence Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Confluence Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,275,333 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 92,247 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.46% of Ares Capital worth $62,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $189,210,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $165,569,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $120,538,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $63,140,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $53,867,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $19.05. The stock had a trading volume of 4,389,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,876,318. The stock has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.56 and its 200 day moving average is $18.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $21.14.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Ares Capital had a net margin of 30.91% and a return on equity of 9.80%. The company had revenue of $768.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.60.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a specialty finance company that operates as a business development company (BDC). It provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily through directly originated loans and other investments. Ares Capital seeks to support businesses that may require capital for acquisitions, growth initiatives, recapitalizations, refinancings and other corporate purposes.

The company invests across a range of industries and typically provides first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments.