Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Holdings Increased by Zuckerman Investment Group LLC

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 114.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,000 shares during the quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $20.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.77. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.98. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARCC. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. 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 research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital 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.