24,669 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Purchased by Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC

Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,669 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Ares Capital by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $174,068,000 after acquiring an additional 871,370 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $84,426,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,651 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $77,133,000 after acquiring an additional 105,526 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $22.19 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.94. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.65%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

About Ares Capital

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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