Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,143,576 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 16,942 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $23,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the first quarter worth $86,227,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $243,434,000 after buying an additional 1,961,166 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Ares Capital by 143.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $17,081,000 after acquiring an additional 484,088 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,354,097 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,192,000 after acquiring an additional 467,535 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.05 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.55 and a 12 month high of $21.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.12%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.75%.

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.