LFG Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 121,653 Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

LFG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 121,653 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,000. Ares Capital makes up 1.6% of LFG Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Ares Capital by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,558,581 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $355,210,000 after purchasing an additional 341,578 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in Ares Capital by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $226,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,301,890 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Ares Capital by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $190,572,000 after purchasing an additional 705,882 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Ares Capital by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $109,432,000 after purchasing an additional 761,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,387,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $88,762,000 after purchasing an additional 63,796 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.65.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $18.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.56. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $23.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 117.79%.

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.