Community Trust & Investment Co. Buys 2,247 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 155,464 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 29.32% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $19.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 527,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,115,879. The company has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.77. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $16.53 and a 52 week high of $20.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. Ares Capital had a net margin of 36.52% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $634.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.26 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 116.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. TheStreet raised Ares Capital from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $20.50 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

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.