Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Holdings Lifted by Romano Brothers AND Company

Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 354,237 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,659 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up approximately 1.0% of Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Romano Brothers AND Company owned about 0.05% of Ares Capital worth $7,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $102,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 562.5% in the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.18. 3,892,502 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,590,648. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

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