48,675 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Purchased by FJ Capital Management LLC

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

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

ARCC traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.08. The stock had a trading volume of 4,359,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,138,023. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.89. 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 twelve month low of $18.26 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average 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.