Waterloo Capital L.P. Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,813 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.6% during the second quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 266,250 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,549,000 after buying an additional 9,305 shares in the last quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $333,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 324.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 31,179 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 23,835 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 170.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 96,803 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 60,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 51,393 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 8,644 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $20.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.77. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.55 and a 12 month high of $21.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.52%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of several analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.