384,308 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Acquired by Vista Finance LLC

Vista Finance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 384,308 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,413,000. Ares Capital comprises about 8.6% of Vista Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Vista Finance LLC owned 0.06% of Ares Capital as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 104,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,314,269 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $50,659,000 after purchasing an additional 96,992 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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, February 6th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.27 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 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 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its 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 forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.25%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.