Truist Financial Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 144,139 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 8,892 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.22 on Tuesday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.65 and its 200 day moving average is $21.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.