Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Intellectus Partners LLC

Intellectus Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,953 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 6,567 shares during the quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.