Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 222,101 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,548 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $72,778,000 after purchasing an additional 273,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $46,430,000 after purchasing an additional 79,074 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,153,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,636,703. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.52 and a 200 day moving average of $21.11. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million during 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.64%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 73.85%.

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.