Sage Investment Counsel LLC Invests $293,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.79. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.