Traders Purchase Large Volume of Ares Capital Call Options (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 106,933 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 3,621% compared to the average volume of 2,874 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Capital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after buying an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Ares Capital by 25.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 222,101 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,651,000 after acquiring an additional 44,548 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 52,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $37,428,000 after acquiring an additional 312,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.13. Ares Capital has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Capital will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.