Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Purchased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 60.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,073,821 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 403,429 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Ares Capital were worth $21,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Canal Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.3% in the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 44,755 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,186 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.0% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 57,092 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $18.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.39. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.40 and a 12-month high of $23.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 37.30% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $778.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.79%.

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.