Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 60.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,958 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 16,112 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 2.9 %

ARCC stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.87. 3,735,851 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,882,879. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.02. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.60 and a 52-week high of $23.84. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 0.77.

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 (EPS) 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, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.66%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Profile

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.