Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 2,730 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 243,961 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,431,000. D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,260,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $123,000. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $278,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 552,907 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 122,229 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.95. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $707.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.78 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.32%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley downgraded Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.80.

About Ares Capital

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.