Delta Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,112 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 12.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 964,643 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $20,200,000 after buying an additional 103,049 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 312,929 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,553,000 after acquiring an additional 20,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 29,786 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.30 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.24%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Company 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.