Whittier Trust Co. Purchases New Shares in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 85,383 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,758,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canal Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,394 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 44,755 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,186 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.25.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The stock has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.66.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.20 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Capital

In other news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel bought 12,500 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 40,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,765. This trade represents a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at $761,241.27. This represents a 15.13% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.