IFP Advisors Inc Boosts Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,429 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.38 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

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.