Montag & Caldwell LLC Makes New $33,000 Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.6 %

ARCC opened at $20.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.98. The firm has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 0.77.

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 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 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.