FJ Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 48,675 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after buying an additional 881,450 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $174,068,000 after acquiring an additional 871,370 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.81. 3,546,666 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,146,446. The stock has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.70. 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 Co. has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.89.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $599.00 million for 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%. Ares Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 8.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.