Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. decreased its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,237 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,973 shares during the quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 6.2% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,635 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 100.0% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 25,070 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 12,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 3.6% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 165,375 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,584,000 after acquiring an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC stock opened at $23.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.75.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 8.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 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.