Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 20,753 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,510,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 20,753 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $33,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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, Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.1 %

ARCC opened at $22.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.97. 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.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.68%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.