Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 50,896 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 382,246 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,896 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $8,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 13,641 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,328,000 after buying an additional 29,330 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Siligmueller & Norvid Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 24,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.77 and a 200 day moving average of $21.77.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.