Sargent Investment Group LLC Sells 7,810 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sargent Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 258,440 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 7,810 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital comprises approximately 1.0% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 62.7% in the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 88.9% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter worth about $42,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,421,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,374,489. The company has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.99. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.87%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. B. Riley raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.86.

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.