Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 115,771 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 3,054 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after buying an additional 38,559 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.87 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.55. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.