LFG Wealth Partners LLC Invests $2.46 Million in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

LFG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 121,653 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,000. Ares Capital makes up about 1.6% of LFG Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. UBS Group AG raised its position in Ares Capital by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,201,905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $226,615,000 after buying an additional 3,301,890 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,943,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Ares Capital by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,408,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $109,432,000 after buying an additional 761,838 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Ares Capital by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,678,129 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $190,572,000 after buying an additional 705,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.65.

Ares Capital Stock Down 3.3%

Ares Capital stock opened at $18.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $23.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.35.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.00 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 37.30% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.79%.

Ares Capital 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.