Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Position Lessened by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. lessened its position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 4,841 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 126,366 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 21,847 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.6% in the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,796,791 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $83,378,000 after buying an additional 21,344 shares in the last quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 10.2% in the first quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC now owns 138,139 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after buying an additional 12,838 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.2% in the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,453,944 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $53,889,000 after buying an additional 75,109 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% in the second quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 750,266 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $16,476,000 after buying an additional 27,860 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.39 per share, with a total value of $265,070.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 28,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,920. The trade was a 86.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.20 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $14.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.68. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.68 and a 200-day moving average of $21.56.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $658.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.48 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 45.16% and a return on equity of 10.08%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.25.

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.