Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 1,489,552 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 2.19% of Ares Capital worth $309,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 43,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. B. Riley raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $22.91 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.