Capital Advisors Inc. OK Boosts Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,481,732 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,016 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $32,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $22.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.56.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.46%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Company 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.