Columbus Macro LLC Buys 33,142 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Columbus Macro LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 576,520 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,142 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up 1.1% of Columbus Macro LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Columbus Macro LLC owned about 0.08% of Ares Capital worth $11,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 27,713 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 10,616 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. VPR Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. VPR Management LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 192,802 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.39.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.59. 3,969,422 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,817,549. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 0.61. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year high of $21.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Ares Capital had a net margin of 30.91% and a return on equity of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $768.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 142.22%.

Ares Capital Company 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.