Americana Partners LLC Takes Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 31,169 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 11,967 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,688 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 127,369 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 8,801 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 76,077 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $18.59 on Monday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $23.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.48 and a 200-day moving average of $19.48.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The business had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $778.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 117.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ARCC. 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 cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.75.

Ares Capital Company 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.