Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,403 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.05. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.15.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

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.