Balentine LLC Acquires Shares of 29,304 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Balentine LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 29,304 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.40. The stock had a trading volume of 6,736,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,382,914. 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 $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $21.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.96. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.05.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.97%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 73.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Company 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.