Muzinich & Co. Inc. Has $21.05 Million Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 961,831 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,214 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up approximately 13.2% of Muzinich & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Muzinich & Co. Inc. owned 0.15% of Ares Capital worth $21,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 200.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.04 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

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.