The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Holdings in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 21.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 378,669 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 66,329 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $6,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 662,533 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,403,000 after acquiring an additional 64,491 shares during the period. Prairiewood Capital LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Prairiewood Capital LLC now owns 303,282 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,135,000 after acquiring an additional 56,465 shares in the last quarter. Eos Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $1,416,000. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 1,022.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 145,943 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,952,000 after purchasing an additional 132,943 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 13.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARCC. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.40.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $19.32 on Thursday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.40 and a 1 year high of $22.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Ares Capital had a net margin of 30.91% and a return on equity of 9.80%. The firm had revenue of $768.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 142.22%.

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.