Rathbones Group PLC Decreases Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,324 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 59,483 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $7,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,502 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $273,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,835,007 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $62,824,000 after buying an additional 358,829 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 139.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,655 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 16,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $14,766,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $18.30 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.83 and a 200 day moving average of $19.79. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The company has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $793.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Capital news, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $774,765. This represents a 44.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,037.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $761,241.27. This represents a 15.13% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.38.

About Ares Capital

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.