Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 13.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,736 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 12,019 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 31.7% during the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 25,319 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 6,097 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $162,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 32,016 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 9.5% during the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,982 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $20.57 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.84 and a 200 day moving average of $20.76. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.55 and a 1 year high of $21.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $714.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.71.

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.