Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Grows Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 708,916 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 27,192 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up approximately 0.9% of Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. owned about 0.11% of Ares Capital worth $15,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management lifted its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,870,000. Vista Finance LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,413,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in 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 period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $23.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,417,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,339,519. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.75. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month 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.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Company 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.