Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $5.65 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,555 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 2,596 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,491,495 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after buying an additional 71,393 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 51,393 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after buying an additional 8,644 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 170.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 96,803 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after buying an additional 60,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 324.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 31,179 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 23,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $22.10 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.43.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.69%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

About Ares Capital

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.