LGT Capital Partners LTD. Has $9.59 Million Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

LGT Capital Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 436,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,000 shares during the quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $9,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 28,983 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 0.3% during the second quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 150,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Prostatis Group LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 2.1% during the first quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.5% during the second quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.1% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. B. Riley upgraded Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.25.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.47 and its 200 day moving average is $21.52. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 45.16% and a return on equity of 10.08%. The business had revenue of $658.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 96.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Capital

In related news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.39 per share, with a total value of $265,070.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 28,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,920. This trade represents a 86.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.