Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,531,444 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,495 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.24% of Ares Capital worth $32,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $18,540,000 after acquiring an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 25.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 222,101 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $4,651,000 after buying an additional 44,548 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 32.5% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $4,435,000 after buying an additional 52,007 shares during the period. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.19 on Tuesday, reaching $22.08. The stock had a trading volume of 5,351,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,440,192. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.58 and a 200 day moving average of $21.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.70%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.