JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 104,710 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 104,710 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.52% of Ares Capital worth $70,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,615 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 4,730 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 63,385 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,726 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Ares Capital by 382.8% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 61,609 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 48,848 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 439,503 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $9,203,000 after buying an additional 18,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.18. 3,559,117 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,462,108. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.17. 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 capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.43.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.66%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

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.