BankPlus Trust Department Acquires New Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 80,155 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,755,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 161,305 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 67,423 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 21,429 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 106,608 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $2,141,000. Finally, Delta Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,112 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.30 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly 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%. Analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.24%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

About Ares Capital

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.