Tradition Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,535 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,535 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,080,208 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $43,560,000 after acquiring an additional 96,614 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,547,000. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.4% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 34,031 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 152,259 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,188,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,692,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARCC. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $22.15 on Monday. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.07. The stock has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.67%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

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.