Credit Agricole S A Acquires 276,293 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Credit Agricole S A increased its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 55.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 772,219 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 276,293 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A owned approximately 0.11% of Ares Capital worth $17,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.5% in the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA boosted its position in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,961 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 0.6% during the first quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 104,519 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,776 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 31,319 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.98. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million during 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 period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.86.

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.