Secure Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 35.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,704 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,840 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 323.3% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.55 and a 52 week high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.87%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.75%.

About Ares Capital

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.