Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,187,083 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,036 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.34% of Ares Capital worth $45,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,291 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,035 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,994,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 13.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 34,599 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 14.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 942,179 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $19,736,000 after purchasing an additional 121,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $22.21. 4,153,203 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,636,703. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.30.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Ares Capital's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.64%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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