Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Bought by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,362 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,815,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG boosted its position in Ares Capital by 21.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 312,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.37 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.