Melia Wealth LLC Takes $8.53 Million Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Melia Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 460,440 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,532,000. Ares Capital comprises approximately 4.9% of Melia Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. SWAN Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Eight 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.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.40.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.83. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $22.51. The company has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $768.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.19 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 30.91% and a return on equity of 9.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.7%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.22%.

About Ares Capital

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.