NorthRock Partners LLC Takes Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 26,742 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.67 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.04 and its 200 day moving average is $21.89. 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 market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ARCC. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.