Sage Investment Counsel LLC Invests $293,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,390 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,455 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.63. 5,900,739 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,365,421. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.86 and a 200-day moving average of $21.84. The stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.94.

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.