Savvy Advisors Inc. Makes New $763,000 Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 34,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $763,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $19.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.11 and its 200 day moving average is $21.98. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent research 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.81.

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.