RDA Financial Network Reduces Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

RDA Financial Network reduced its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,860 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 735 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Ares Capital by 8.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth about $9,815,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.00 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.35%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

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.