Key Financial Inc Buys 988 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,465 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,388 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 165,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 11,483 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Ares Capital by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 144,139 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,155,000 after purchasing an additional 8,892 shares during the period. 5T Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $449,000. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 72.2% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 589,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 247,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.65. The company has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.