Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Purchased by Prairiewood Capital LLC

Prairiewood Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,842 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 10,779 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 1.7% of Prairiewood Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Prairiewood Capital LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.97 and a 200-day moving average of $21.31.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued 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). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

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.