Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by Plan Group Financial LLC

Plan Group Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,283 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,519 shares during the period. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.35 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.65.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.