Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 795,120 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 144,957 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.12% of Ares Capital worth $17,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management grew its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $48,419,000 after acquiring an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.91. 7,415,707 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,005,231. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced 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, analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.64%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.