Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 23,352 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Confluence Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,813,221 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 23,352 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.59% of Ares Capital worth $83,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 3.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $70,926,000 after purchasing an additional 104,710 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,615 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 4,730 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 6.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 63,385 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Ares Capital by 382.8% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 61,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 48,848 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,920,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,566,402. The stock has a market cap of $14.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.70 and its 200-day moving average is $21.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

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.