Clayton Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 40,000 Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Clayton Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 40,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,186 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 57,092 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,840 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 2.8%

Ares Capital stock opened at $18.10 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.32. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The firm had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.6%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.65.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.