LGT Group Foundation Purchases Shares of 383,610 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

LGT Group Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 383,610 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $8,397,000. LGT Group Foundation owned approximately 0.06% of Ares Capital at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Ares Capital by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,887 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,189 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Hanover Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,000. Xcel Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,350 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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Ares Capital Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $22.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,692,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,368,326. The company has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. 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 8.60%. 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.