Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 2,418,984 Shares of Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 22.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,306,095 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 2,418,984 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $246,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Ares Capital by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,558,581 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $355,210,000 after acquiring an additional 341,578 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter valued at about $189,210,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 16.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,135,454 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $164,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,230 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,900,015 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $161,239,000 after purchasing an additional 836,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $120,538,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.84. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.40 and a 12-month high of $22.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $768.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.19 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 30.91%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 142.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.40.

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.