First National Trust Co Raises Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

First National Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 96.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 96,528 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,461 shares during the period. First National Trust Co's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $72,778,000 after purchasing an additional 273,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $46,430,000 after purchasing an additional 79,074 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.54. 3,570,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,385,457. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.99.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 73.85%.

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.