LGT Capital Partners LTD. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. trimmed its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 507,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 178,575 shares during the period. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $11,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% in the third 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 during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.01 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.00. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $22.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.87.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS 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 given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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 shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital 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.