Horizon Financial Services LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,342 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after acquiring an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $80,338,000 after buying an additional 63,999 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,797 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,435,000 after buying an additional 52,007 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 151.4% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 27,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 681,724 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 29,786 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.12 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.22 and its 200 day moving average is $21.04. The company has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.12. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.68%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.