First National Trust Co Has $2.02 Million Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

First National Trust Co raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 96.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 96,528 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 47,461 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after purchasing an additional 63,999 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 151.4% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 27,523 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 681,724 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 29,786 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $2,101,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 206.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,412 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.53 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $22.05. The stock has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.99. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.92%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

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.