Sargent Investment Group LLC Acquires 594 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 264,149 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Ares Capital comprises approximately 0.9% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 121.1% in the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 281.3% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 137.6% in the first quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,704 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.21 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.04 and its 200-day moving average is $22.01. The company has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.67.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. B. Riley raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.21.

About Ares Capital

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.