Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,329 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after acquiring an additional 38,559 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 222,101 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,651,000 after purchasing an additional 44,548 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 32.5% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 52,007 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.09 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.21. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $22.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio 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.