AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 56,288 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC opened at $22.23 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.95. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

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.