BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stake in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 60.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,073,821 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 403,429 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.15% of Ares Capital worth $21,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARCC. SWAN Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 201.0% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.6%

ARCC stock opened at $18.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $23.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.39. The stock has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.