Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $30.62 Million Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,399,012 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 133,200 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.21% of Ares Capital worth $30,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Ares Capital Stock Down 7.2 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,636,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,829,365. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.02.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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