Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,620 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,395 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $79,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.89. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. 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 8.96%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.