Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $317,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,116 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 151.4% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $952,000 after purchasing an additional 27,523 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $2,101,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 206.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,412 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 13.4% in the second quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 651,938 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,586,000 after purchasing an additional 76,960 shares during the period. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its position in Ares Capital by 4.5% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 225,752 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,700,000 after purchasing an additional 9,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.71.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.90. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $18.59 and a twelve month high of $21.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.86%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.75%.

Ares Capital Profile

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.