Sfmg LLC Has $9.72 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sfmg LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 444,118 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 4,615 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 0.8% of Sfmg LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $9,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 25,347 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 127,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.76 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ARCC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

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.