Trek Financial LLC Sells 4,244 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Trek Financial LLC cut its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 14.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,715 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 4,244 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 753.9% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 86,534 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 76,400 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.9% in the first quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 722,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $16,009,000 after purchasing an additional 13,490 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 25.0% in the first quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 12,454 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,490 shares during the period. Fullcircle Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the first quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,219 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.42 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $21.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.95. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.56%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.