Progeny 3 Inc. Acquires 45,510 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Progeny 3 Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,125,718 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,510 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 3.7% of Progeny 3 Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Progeny 3 Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Ares Capital worth $46,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.7%

ARCC stock opened at $21.63 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $21.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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. The company has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.88%. Ares Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.66%.

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.

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