GAMMA Investing LLC Has $2.94 Million Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 2,116.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,274 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,675 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Ares Capital by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,564 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xcel Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,350 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.53. 4,992,011 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,165,733. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.15 and a 200 day moving average of $21.95.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.92%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

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.