Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 38,559 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 885,406 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Ares Capital worth $18,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 151.4% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 27,523 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 32.5% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 52,007 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 681,724 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 29,786 shares during the period. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $2,101,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $21.68. The company had a trading volume of 3,319,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,388,160. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.86%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.86.

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.