Optimum Investment Advisors Trims Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Optimum Investment Advisors trimmed its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,749 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Ares Capital were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 320.7% in 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. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 121.1% in the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Ares Capital by 137.6% in the first quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,704 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.95. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 43.50% and a return on equity of 11.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.56%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 93.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.