Stephens Inc. AR Sells 8,773 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Stephens Inc. AR cut its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,241,314 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 8,773 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR owned 0.18% of Ares Capital worth $27,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 320.7% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 193.9% in 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 during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $19.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.53. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.8%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.63.

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.