CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 24,571 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lowered its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 365,419 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 24,571 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.05% of Ares Capital worth $7,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its stake in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARCC. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.33.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $21.11. 2,197,013 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,077,507. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.93. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.