BluePointe Capital Management LLC Has $2.46 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

BluePointe Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,422 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 6,064 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital makes up 1.4% of BluePointe Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. BluePointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.75 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.91.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

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.