Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 18.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,833 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,948 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $243,434,000 after buying an additional 1,961,166 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 143.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,081,000 after buying an additional 484,088 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 52.7% during the first 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 buying an additional 467,535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC opened at $21.57 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.73 and a 52-week high of $21.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $13.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 59.76% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $714.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.