Partners Group Holding AG Decreases Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Partners Group Holding AG reduced its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,596,590 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 190,811 shares during the period. Ares Capital comprises 1.3% of Partners Group Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Partners Group Holding AG owned approximately 0.24% of Ares Capital worth $34,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,500 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,689 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 444,118 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $9,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 40,697 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

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Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,759,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,706,556. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.96. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.59%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.94.

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.