Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Truvestments Capital LLC

Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,195 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,311 shares during the period. Ares Capital comprises 1.0% of Truvestments Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Truvestments Capital LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ares Capital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $70,926,000 after buying an additional 104,710 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $58,159,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,314,269 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $50,659,000 after buying an additional 96,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.90.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.78%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.