54,580 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Acquired by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 54,580 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,260,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.53. 4,318,301 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,131,364. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $21.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.91. The stock has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.92%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus 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.