Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Stock Position Increased by Muzinich & Co. Inc.

Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,640,113 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 267,062 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital comprises about 12.9% of Muzinich & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Muzinich & Co. Inc. owned about 0.23% of Ares Capital worth $33,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 161.1% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 16,611 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 10,250 shares in the last quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.7% during the third quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 263,433 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.2% in the third quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 98,410 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 12.8% in the third quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 505,046 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $10,308,000 after purchasing an additional 57,140 shares during the period. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in Ares Capital by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 410,020 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $8,369,000 after purchasing an additional 14,363 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Capital

In related news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.39 per share, with a total value of $265,070.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 28,000 shares in the company, valued at $570,920. This represents a 86.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.25.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $20.17 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.59.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.48 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 45.16%.The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.