Morningstar Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,879 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 28,983 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 150,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Prostatis Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,809 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.63.

Ares Capital Stock Up 2.3%

Ares Capital stock opened at $19.94 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.59. The company has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.68.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 44.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company 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.