Fmr LLC Sells 1,622,077 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Fmr LLC lessened its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,674,845 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,622,077 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $76,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARCC. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.47 and its 200 day moving average is $21.09. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.30.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.66%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.