By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC – Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,849 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during 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 and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Ares Capital
Ares Capital Stock Performance
NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.44 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84.
Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.
Ares Capital Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.
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.
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ARCC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Ares Capital Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Ares Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.