O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc Boosts Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc grew its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,499 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares during the quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $243,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,166 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 143.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $9,815,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Ares Capital by 52.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,354,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,192,000 after buying an additional 467,535 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $21.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,311,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,359,739. The company has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.86 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.07%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

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.