Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,275,333 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 92,247 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $62,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.9% in the first quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 27,713 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,956 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 10,616 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 34,362 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VPR Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. VPR Management LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.05. The company had a trading volume of 4,389,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,876,318. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $21.14. The firm has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 30.91%.The firm had revenue of $768.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.1%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 142.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Friday, September 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.60.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a specialty finance company that operates as a business development company (BDC). It provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily through directly originated loans and other investments. Ares Capital seeks to support businesses that may require capital for acquisitions, growth initiatives, recapitalizations, refinancings and other corporate purposes.

The company invests across a range of industries and typically provides first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments.