JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 104,710 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $70,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter worth $9,815,000. Partners Group Holding AG raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $72,778,000 after buying an additional 273,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.18 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $22.43. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.17.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.66%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital 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.