Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,972 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,626 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CCLA Investment Management increased its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its position in Ares Capital by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 154,505 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 71,945 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 17,712 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,171 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 87,981 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 39,806 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

ARCC stock opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.82 and a 200 day moving average of $21.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.43.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

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.