Sound Income Strategies LLC Buys 96,992 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,314,269 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 96,992 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up 3.1% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $50,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 19,855 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,907 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 171,559 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,946,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 47,505 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,941 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. 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 shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.38 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.08 and its 200 day moving average is $21.35. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.