9,167 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Acquired by Clare Market Investments LLC

Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC opened at $22.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.89. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.55%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of 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 raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.