Generation Capital Management LLC Makes New $410,000 Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 18,750 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.90 and a 200-day moving average of $21.95.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.61.

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.