Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 177,018 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 9,766 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 worth $272,107,000 after buying an additional 975,045 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $9,815,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 21.2% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $23.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.29. The stock has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARCC. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley upped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.29.

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.