VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Takes $35,000 Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,593 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 437,215 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $9,575,000 after purchasing an additional 71,408 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $84,426,000. Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 25,318 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 397,039 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,691,000 after purchasing an additional 43,321 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $314,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.73 on Friday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.91.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

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.