Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management decreased its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,512,190 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 124,300 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.23% of Ares Capital worth $33,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $20.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,084,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,016,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock's 50-day moving average is $22.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.96. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.43%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

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.