Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 87.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 868,467 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 738,614 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $14,381,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 13.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 430,678 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,385,000 after acquiring an additional 50,717 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $197,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,595 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 241,231 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,697,000 after purchasing an additional 55,386 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCC. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.43.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.78 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.00 and a fifty-two week high of $21.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.11. The stock has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $701.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.24%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

About Ares Capital

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.