Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 32.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,059 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 8,602 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 562.5% in the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.35. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.53. The stock has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Ares Capital Company 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.