Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires 48,848 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 382.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,609 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,848 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JBR Co Financial Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% in the third quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 25,823 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. B. Riley upped 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. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.69. 4,551,934 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,459,505. The stock's fifty day moving average is $21.64 and its 200 day moving average is $21.13. The stock has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $22.43.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.85%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

About Ares Capital

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.