First National Trust Co Purchases 94,608 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

First National Trust Co grew its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 98.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191,136 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 94,608 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.28 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.89. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.