Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 14.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 189,871 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,679 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 323.3% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 88.9% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.94 and a 200 day moving average of $20.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.59 and a 52 week high of $21.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $714.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of several research reports. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital 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.