New South Capital Management Inc. Sells 14,585 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

New South Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,903 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 14,585 shares during the period. New South Capital Management Inc. owned 0.09% of Ares Capital worth $11,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $86,227,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 20.2% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $243,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,166 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 4,876.0% in the first quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 574,978 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,971,000 after acquiring an additional 563,423 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2,057.7% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 526,258 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $10,541,000 after acquiring an additional 501,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 143.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $17,081,000 after purchasing an additional 484,088 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $20.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.75. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.55 and a 52 week high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.36%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

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.