Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Bought by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 81.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,198,580 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.40% of Ares Capital worth $58,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

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

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.