Plan Group Financial LLC Acquires 5,519 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Plan Group Financial LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,283 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 5,519 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after buying an additional 38,559 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.35 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.53 and its 200-day moving average is $21.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 78.37%.

Ares Capital Company 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.