Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $1.24 Million Position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its holdings in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,922 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 11,251 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.9% during the first quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 722,406 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $16,009,000 after buying an additional 13,490 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 25.0% in the first quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 12,454 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,490 shares during the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the first quarter valued at $405,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.8% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,219 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.4% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 34,862 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.84. 2,646,760 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,217,212. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.67. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $21.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.97.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 11.05% and a net margin of 43.50%. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

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.