Segment Wealth Management LLC Acquires 17,405 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 133.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,403 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,405 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 11.1% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 159,825 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,331,000 after buying an additional 16,007 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,405 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 4,749 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,365,540 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,458,000 after acquiring an additional 11,443 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,020 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 15,292 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

ARCC stock opened at $23.18 on Tuesday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.31. The company has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.28%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

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.