Copperwynd Financial LLC Purchases 12,793 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 160,177 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,793 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 1.0% of Copperwynd Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Copperwynd Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after buying an additional 38,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.28 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.88 and a 200-day moving average of $21.89. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.02%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 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.