M Holdings Securities Inc. Raises Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

M Holdings Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,612 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in 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. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $20.02 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.98. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its 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 research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.81.

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.