Two Sigma Investments LP Boosts Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 81.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $58,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA increased its stake in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.91 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.76%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARCC. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.