PFG Advisors Increases Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

PFG Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,576 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 323.3% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,922 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 218.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,960 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ARCC. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.55 and a 52-week high of $21.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.60.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $701.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.06%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 65.75%.

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.