RFG Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,855 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JBR Co Financial Management Inc raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.2% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.9% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 25,823 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.39. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Ares Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.