Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 141,686 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,142,995 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,686 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $64,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 33.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 275,891 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 69,844 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 265.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 74,725 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 54,267 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $309,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at about $2,810,000. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 19.5% during the third quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 1,640,113 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $33,475,000 after buying an additional 267,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Activity

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

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.30 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.59. Ares Capital Corporation has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.63.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

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

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.