Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $309,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,749 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its position in Ares Capital by 50.4% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 28,899 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,683 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 35.3% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 3,840 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $22.91 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year 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 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.57.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

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.