Ares Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ares Management LLC cut its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,897,505 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 256,039 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up 0.1% of Ares Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Ares Management LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Ares Capital worth $41,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 valued at $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted 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 worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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, 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.14.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.46 on Friday, hitting $20.80. The stock had a trading volume of 3,299,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,123,863. The stock has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $21.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.92.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

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.