Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,036,690 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 147,803 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.15% of Ares Capital worth $22,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $21.08. The stock had a trading volume of 4,359,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,138,023. The company's 50 day moving average price is $21.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.89. The stock has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, 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 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 9.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.