HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Invests $615,000 in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 30,391 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. UBS Group AG raised its holdings 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 worth $226,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,301,890 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings 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 worth $190,572,000 after purchasing an additional 705,882 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,794,378 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $83,353,000 after purchasing an additional 225,984 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,566,790 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $72,156,000 after purchasing an additional 423,795 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,226,668 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $65,856,000 after purchasing an additional 225,028 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $18.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.56. The stock has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.58. Ares Capital Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $23.42.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $763.00 million for 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%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.2%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.75.

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.