Lewis Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Lewis Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,084 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 6,054 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $877,203,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 0.6% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,796,791 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $83,378,000 after purchasing an additional 21,344 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,627,990 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,396,000 after purchasing an additional 104,339 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 9.0% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,567,816 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $79,063,000 after purchasing an additional 293,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.4% during the first quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,975,197 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $65,930,000 after purchasing an additional 230,924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.56 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.9%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Company 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.