HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,447,058 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 565,957 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.34% of Ares Capital worth $49,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Ares Capital by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $226,615,000 after buying an additional 3,301,890 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,943,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ares Capital by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $190,572,000 after buying an additional 705,882 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $14,766,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Ares Capital by 182.2% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 893,834 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,243,000 after buying an additional 577,042 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $18.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.58. Ares Capital Corporation has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $23.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.49.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The business had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $778.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

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.