Cwm LLC Raises Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Cwm LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,731 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 26,190 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,355 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 41,177 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 42,777 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $261,000. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 23,080 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ARCC. B. Riley downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.80.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.35 and a 200 day moving average of $20.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $17.53 and a twelve month high of $20.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The business had revenue of $707.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 71.91%.

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.