Integras Partners LLC Invests $1.54 Million in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Integras Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 70,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC opened at $21.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $22.91 and its 200-day moving average is $21.89.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.