Kentucky Trust Co Makes New $357,000 Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 16,313 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $266,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $378,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Ares Capital by 565.0% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 5,400 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,609 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,749 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8 %

ARCC stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.27. 3,785,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,598,560. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.48 and a 200-day moving average of $21.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.94.

About Ares Capital

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.