NewEdge Advisors LLC Has $2.29 Million Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,705 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,510 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARCC shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.10. 3,163,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,074,736. The firm has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $21.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.93.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 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.