Van ECK Associates Corp Has $272.11 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 975,045 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 2.01% of Ares Capital worth $272,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 9.0% in the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,625 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $4,997,000 after acquiring an additional 19,624 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 175,653 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,678,000 after purchasing an additional 10,364 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 482,027 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 22,047 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,440,716 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $30,169,000 after buying an additional 44,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values Added Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $276,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.7 %

ARCC stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,433,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,410,494. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.95. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.24 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The company has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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 company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.86.

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.