Bruni J V & Co. Co. Trims Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Bruni J V & Co. Co. lessened its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,363,478 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 16,469 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital comprises 3.4% of Bruni J V & Co. Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bruni J V & Co. Co.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $29,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $23.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted 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, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.