Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Grows Position in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,777 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,972 shares during the quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2,116.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,274 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 12,675 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.5% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 455,415 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $10,092,000 after acquiring an additional 11,250 shares in the last quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.0% during the first quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 152,084 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,451 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.6% during the first quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 356,439 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,899,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarus Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $264,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $20.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.08 and its 200 day moving average is $21.74. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $614.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $748.76 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 44.94%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.4%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $22.50 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $23.00 price objective on Ares Capital and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two 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 $22.86.

Ares Capital Company 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.