AdvisorNet Financial Inc Has $2.82 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 5,134.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,260 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 124,829 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARCC. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock traded down $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $21.94. 1,612,370 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,134,088. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $21.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.75%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.