Summit Financial LLC Takes $830,000 Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 37,931 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $93,439,000 after purchasing an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,159,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,314,269 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $50,659,000 after buying an additional 96,992 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $22.41 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week 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 $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.57%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.