Xcel Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,750 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Xcel Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,650 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares during the period. Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 148.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sierra Capital LLC now owns 65,290 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after buying an additional 39,034 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 238,967 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,004,000 after buying an additional 28,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 22,105 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $21.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,331,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,391,056. The firm has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $18.55 and a one year high of $21.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.88 and a 200 day moving average of $20.89.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.88%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

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.