Enstar Group LTD Acquires New Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Enstar Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 468,925 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $10,265,000. Ares Capital accounts for about 3.6% of Enstar Group LTD's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Enstar Group LTD owned approximately 0.07% of Ares Capital as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew 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 worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARCC. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut 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 target price on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ARCC traded up $0.25 on Tuesday, reaching $21.84. 3,756,920 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,147,415. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Ares Capital's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 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.