Cerity Partners LLC Has $7.79 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 371,874 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 32,957 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $7,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 6.3% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 54,206 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the first quarter worth $272,000. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its position in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 152,115 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,167,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 143.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,081,000 after acquiring an additional 484,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 54.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 378,052 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,871,000 after acquiring an additional 133,759 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $22.01 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.29 and its 200 day moving average is $21.05. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $22.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.72%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

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.