Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Buys New Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,430 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC traded up $0.29 on Monday, reaching $22.05. 4,279,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,712,837. The company's 50-day moving average price is $22.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84.

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Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARCC. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.