Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Sells 113,075 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lessened its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 44.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,872 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 113,075 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $22.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.95. 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 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average 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.