Clare Market Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Down 2.4 %

ARCC opened at $22.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.89. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

About Ares Capital

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.