World Equity Group Inc. Takes $463,000 Position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 21,832 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,116.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,274 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 12,675 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 361.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 3,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $314,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1%

ARCC opened at $21.49 on Friday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.93. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.68.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.