Mutual Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 171,559 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 6,184 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $67,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $102,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 562.5% during the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC stock opened at $23.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.35. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.53. 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 announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.21%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.