Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 896,996 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 103,686 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Ares Capital worth $19,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $20.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.90. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company 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.

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