Fiduciary Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Fiduciary Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.91.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio 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.