Cerity Partners LLC Buys 199,029 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 461.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,147 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 199,029 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 100.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,426 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 181,426 shares in the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 411.0% during the third quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,952 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 137.2% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,142 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley cut shares of Ares Capital from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.80.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

ARCC traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.33. 1,986,122 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,661,998. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business's 50 day moving average is $20.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.94. The stock has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.86.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $707.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.78 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio is 71.91%.

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.