Denali Advisors LLC Sells 117,345 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Denali Advisors LLC lessened its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 20.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 446,106 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 117,345 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for about 1.0% of Denali Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Denali Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Ares Capital worth $9,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,502 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter valued at $273,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 14.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,835,007 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $62,824,000 after acquiring an additional 358,829 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 139.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,655 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 16,128 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the first quarter worth $14,766,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ARCC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $19.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.59. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $793.00 million during 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%. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Capital news, CFO Scott C. Lem acquired 5,186 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $761,241.27. This represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired 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 owned 40,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $774,765. This represents a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Capital Profile

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.