Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,593 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,226 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,361 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 393,517 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $8,720,000 after acquiring an additional 87,934 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $251,000. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 4.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,453 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.63.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $19.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.54. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.68.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $614.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.8%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.66%.

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.