Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Stock: New South Capital Management Inc. Trims Position

New South Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 151,889 shares during the period. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at $165,569,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter worth $120,538,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter worth $63,140,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $53,867,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $45,339,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.39.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $19.46 on Thursday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.40 and a 1 year high of $21.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.98.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The investment management company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.34 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 157.38%.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company that provides financing to U.S. middle-market companies, including businesses backed by private equity firms. It is externally managed by Ares Capital Management, an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation. The company invests primarily in debt, including first-lien and second-lien loans and subordinated debt, and may also make equity investments. Its financing supports a range of business needs, such as acquisitions, growth, and refinancing.