Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Holdings Lifted by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co grew its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 98.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,136 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 94,608 shares during the period. First National Trust Co's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Ares Capital by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 51,256 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 3,868 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 44,370 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $18,540,000 after buying an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 57,405 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 11,218 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

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Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.75. 3,755,894 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,692,586. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.87 and a 200-day moving average of $21.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.