Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Position Boosted by Gilbert & Cook Inc.

Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,514,588 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 94,961 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up 4.4% of Gilbert & Cook Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Gilbert & Cook Inc. owned about 0.23% of Ares Capital worth $31,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake 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 worth $243,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,166 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 143.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $17,081,000 after purchasing an additional 484,088 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,354,097 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $28,192,000 after buying an additional 467,535 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 brokerages have weighed in on ARCC. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.51. The company had a trading volume of 3,733,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,126,112. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $21.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.