Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 216,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 28,739 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital comprises about 1.5% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.3 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.05 on Tuesday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.94.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS 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%. Equities research 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 declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.71%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

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.