Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Invests $334,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 15,272 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.1 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.93.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.82%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.