12,667 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Bought by Clarus Wealth Advisors

Clarus Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,667 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Ares Capital by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,678,525 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $58,633,000 after buying an additional 1,198,580 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,448,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,133,529. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.68.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Ares Capital's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.75%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.