Almanack Investment Partners LLC. Buys 13,895 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Almanack Investment Partners LLC. boosted its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 72.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,099 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,895 shares during the quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. B. Riley upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.74 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.53. The company has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.44%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.