Round Rock Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 69,052 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,512,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 149,084 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,263,000 after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 1,835.2% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 9,947 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 9,433 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 74,475 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 295,967 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $6,479,000 after acquiring an additional 4,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.79.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.15. 11,595,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,540,001. The company's 50 day moving average price is $22.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.30%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 73.85%.

Ares Capital Profile

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.