Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 133,200 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,399,012 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,200 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $30,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.6 %

ARCC opened at $22.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.76 and a 200-day moving average of $22.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.