Raymond James & Associates Has $20.20 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 964,643 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,049 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Ares Capital were worth $20,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 20.2% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $243,434,000 after buying an additional 1,961,166 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 143.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,081,000 after purchasing an additional 484,088 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,815,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Ares Capital by 52.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,354,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,192,000 after purchasing an additional 467,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,664,312 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $34,651,000 after purchasing an additional 417,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.96 and a 200-day moving average of $20.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.59 and a 1 year high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.90%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.71.

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.