New South Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

New South Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 547,403 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $11,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during 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 buying an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,681,109 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $243,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,166 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 143.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 820,390 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,081,000 after acquiring an additional 484,088 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 52.7% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, hitting $21.55. 182,158 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,370,400. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.98. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released 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 firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

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.