Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Position Lifted by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,782,203 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 165,844 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned 0.27% of Ares Capital worth $39,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the period. Finally, CCLA Investment Management boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven 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 $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $20.45. 2,536,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,275,092. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.95. 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 firm has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.77. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's 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.