Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,144,796 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 483,197 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.17% of Ares Capital worth $25,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $58,159,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,314,269 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $50,659,000 after buying an additional 96,992 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ARCC. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ARCC stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.39. 1,288,694 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,023,164. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $21.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.95. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS 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, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.41%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 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.