Dark Forest Capital Management LP Invests $455,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 20,804 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

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

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $20.65. 1,563,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,100,217. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.30%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARCC. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.22.

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.