Sigma Planning Corp Has $3.24 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 147,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,033 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at about $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.4 %

ARCC opened at $23.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.61 and a 200 day moving average of $21.70. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.