Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by CCLA Investment Management

CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 531,305 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $48,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth about $67,000. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 562.5% during the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley raised their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.24. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.56%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

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.