Dupree Financial Group LLC Makes New $7.39 Million Investment in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Dupree Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 387,184 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,395,000. Ares Capital accounts for about 1.9% of Dupree Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Dupree Financial Group LLC owned about 0.05% of Ares Capital at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,306,095 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $246,562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418,984 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth $189,210,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,135,454 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $164,621,000 after buying an additional 1,259,230 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $120,538,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 9.5% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,870,130 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $71,714,000 after buying an additional 335,197 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Eight equities research 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, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.39.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $18.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $21.14. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.55 and its 200 day moving average is $18.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 30.91%. The business had revenue of $768.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 142.22%.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a specialty finance company that operates as a business development company (BDC). It provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily through directly originated loans and other investments. Ares Capital seeks to support businesses that may require capital for acquisitions, growth initiatives, recapitalizations, refinancings and other corporate purposes.

The company invests across a range of industries and typically provides first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments.