Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 43,321 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 397,039 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 43,321 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $8,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 25,347 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.92. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.