Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by D L Carlson Investment Group Inc.

D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. trimmed its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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. 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 objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.1 %

ARCC stock opened at $22.11 on Monday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio 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.