Lewis Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,084 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $792,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% during the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 121.1% during the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 281.3% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. B. Riley raised Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on Ares Capital and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.86.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.81. The company has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company 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.