Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 53,258 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 39.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,081 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 53,258 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,187,083 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $45,798,000 after purchasing an additional 47,036 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 10.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,291 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 3.7% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,035 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,994,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 13.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 34,599 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $22.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,966,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,431,488. The company's fifty day moving average is $21.52 and its 200-day moving average is $21.10. The company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.43.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company 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 earned $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.29.

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.