Whipplewood Advisors LLC Has $1.49 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 73,108 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,640 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 1.0% of Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 825.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,551,711 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $77,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167,906 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 18.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,404,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $140,651,000 after buying an additional 1,006,460 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 56.9% in the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,342,324 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $51,437,000 after buying an additional 849,097 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $190,572,000 after buying an additional 705,882 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $14,766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel acquired 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.13 per share, with a total value of $239,125.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at $774,765. The trade was a 44.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.29 per share, with a total value of $100,037.94. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $761,241.27. This represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Capital Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $19.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.79.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 103.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

About Ares Capital

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.