Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,142,859 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 31,436 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR owned about 0.18% of Ares Capital worth $25,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $272,107,000 after buying an additional 975,045 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management raised its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,870,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $37,428,000 after acquiring an additional 312,255 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Ares Capital Price Performance
ARCC stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.91. The stock had a trading volume of 3,471,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,609,776. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company's 50-day moving average price is $22.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.01.
Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ares Capital Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.38%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.94.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Ares Capital
About Ares Capital
(
Free Report)
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.
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