Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stake Increased by Gilbert & Cook Inc.

Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,514,588 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,961 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for 4.4% of Gilbert & Cook Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Gilbert & Cook Inc. owned about 0.23% of Ares Capital worth $31,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after acquiring an additional 975,045 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $72,778,000 after acquiring an additional 273,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,430,000 after acquiring an additional 79,074 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. B. Riley raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. Ares Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

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.