CCLA Investment Management Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

CCLA Investment Management raised its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 531,305 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management owned approximately 0.34% of Ares Capital worth $48,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. JBR Co Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 33,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 3.9% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,428 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 25,823 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

ARCC stock opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.24. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

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.