Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 337,581 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,652 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC owned 0.05% of Ares Capital worth $7,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.30 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.61 and a 200 day moving average of $21.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

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.