Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 7,060 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,341 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 7,060 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 323.3% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,922 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 218.7% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,960 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $20.96. 1,336,444 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,562,108. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.55 and a 52 week high of $21.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Ares Capital 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.