Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC Has $272,000 Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 69.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,117 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 34,556 shares during the quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,502 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $273,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,835,007 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $62,824,000 after purchasing an additional 358,829 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 139.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,655 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 16,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,766,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $18.21 on Friday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $23.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.19.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.65.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.