Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 64,976 Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 64,976 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,314,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Ares Capital by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $190,572,000 after purchasing an additional 705,882 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,900,015 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $161,239,000 after acquiring an additional 836,826 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 6.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,794,378 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $83,353,000 after acquiring an additional 225,984 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,167,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,226,668 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $65,856,000 after purchasing an additional 225,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.38.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $18.01 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $23.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.88.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 42.56%.The firm had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.7%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 103.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel acquired 12,500 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.13 per share, with a total value of $239,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at $774,765. This trade represents a 44.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem acquired 5,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 39,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $761,241.27. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.