Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $1.53 Million Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 72,958 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,528,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $243,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,166 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Partners Group Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $37,428,000 after purchasing an additional 312,255 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $72,778,000 after purchasing an additional 273,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.2 %

ARCC stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.12. The stock had a trading volume of 4,947,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,446,491. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.43. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $21.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.11. The company has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 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.