Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,533 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARCC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 139,214 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 11,827 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $1,755,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 161,305 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 67,423 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 21,429 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 106,608 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.3 %

ARCC stock opened at $23.22 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.73. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. B. Riley upped their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.