Providence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 1,126 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,385 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.36 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.96.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.