Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT cut its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 92,910 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 5,440 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,034,000 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $102,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 562.5% in the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

ARCC opened at $23.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.32.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

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.