B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 13,409 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,809 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 13,409 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,000. United Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 102,316 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Challenger Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,750,000. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,182,000. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $467,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.05. 3,173,061 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,141,018. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $18.26 and a 1 year 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 93.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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, UBS Group lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.