Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,135,609 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 112,135 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.17% of Ares Capital worth $24,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth 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. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.94.

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Ares Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.73. 4,606,124 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,694,785. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The firm's fifty day moving average is $22.86 and its 200-day moving average is $21.91. 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 $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS 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 anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.84%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

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.