Delphi Management Inc. MA Buys 3,142 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Delphi Management Inc. MA increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 73,215 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the period. Ares Capital comprises about 1.5% of Delphi Management Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Delphi Management Inc. MA’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $309,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management grew its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,400,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $30,658,000 after purchasing an additional 458,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $8,870,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.00. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.91. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Ares Capital Company 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.