Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Holdings Lowered by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC cut its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,384 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 5,453 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after buying an additional 975,045 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $8,870,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,428,000 after acquiring an additional 312,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.91 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.57.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Company 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.