Perennial Advisors LLC Purchases 16,350 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Perennial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 207,390 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,564 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 31,319 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $22.21. 1,029,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,126,007. The stock has a market cap of $15.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.68. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $18.26 and a one 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. The business's fifty day moving average is $21.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.94.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The firm had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 93.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.