10,116 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Bought by Hanover Advisors Inc.

Hanover Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,116 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.1 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.79. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ARCC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.