Emfo LLC Trims Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Emfo LLC decreased its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,307 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 15,560 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up 8.2% of Emfo LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Emfo LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Ares Capital worth $8,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1,865.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $844,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,570 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Ares Capital by 10.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,441,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $144,881,000 after acquiring an additional 708,568 shares during the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $13,992,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 160.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,117,111 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $23,403,000 after acquiring an additional 687,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ares Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 35.7% during the first quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 2,361,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $49,475,000 after acquiring an additional 621,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

Ares Capital stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $20.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,728,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,692,094. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The firm had revenue of $707.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.49%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ARCC shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley cut shares of Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.80.

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.