Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Bought by Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 164,914 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,387,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $70,926,000 after acquiring an additional 104,710 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $58,159,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.4 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.89. The stock has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital 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.